Current Progress in Evolutionary Comparative Genomics of Great Apes

Aisha Yousaf; Junfeng Liu; Sicheng Ye; Hua Chen

doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.657468

Current Progress in Evolutionary Comparative Genomics of Great Apes

Front Genet. 2021 Aug 11:12:657468. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.657468. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Aisha Yousaf^{1

2

3}, Junfeng Liu^{1

2}, Sicheng Ye^{1

2

3}, Hua Chen^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.

Abstract

The availability of high-quality genome sequences of great ape species provides unprecedented opportunities for genomic analyses. Herein, we reviewed the recent progress in evolutionary comparative genomic studies of the existing great ape species, including human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and orangutan. We elaborate discovery on evolutionary history, natural selection, structural variations, and new genes of these species, which is informative for understanding the origin of human-specific phenotypes.

Keywords: evolutionary comparative genomics; great apes; natural selection; new genes; structural variations.

Publication types

Review