Biology Faculty Articles

ORCID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Nature Communications

ISSN

2041-1723

Publication Date

9-17-2013

Abstract

Tigers and their close relatives (Panthera) are some of the world’s most endangered species. Here we report the de novo assembly of an Amur tiger whole-genome sequence as well as the genomic sequences of a white Bengal tiger, African lion, white African lion and snow leopard. Through comparative genetic analyses of these genomes, we find genetic signatures that may reflect molecular adaptations consistent with the big cats’ hypercarnivorous diet and muscle strength. We report a snow leopard-specific genetic determinant in EGLN1 (Met39>Lys39), which is likely to be associated with adaptation to high altitude. We also detect a TYR260G>A mutation likely responsible for the white lion coat colour. Tiger and cat genomes show similar repeat composition and an appreciably conserved synteny. Genomic data from the five big cats provide an invaluable resource for resolving easily identifiable phenotypes evident in very close, but distinct, species.

Volume

4

Issue

2433

First Page

1

Last Page

7

Comments

©2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Additional Comments

Industrial Strategic Technology Development Program #: 10040231; National Research Foundation of Korea grant #: NRF-2011-0019745; South Korean Ministry of Science grant #s: 2012R1A1A2043851, NRF-2008-2004707; Russian Ministry of Science grant #: 11.G34.31.0068; GenBank accession #: ATCQ00000000

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