Genome of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica reveals innovation in non-coding sequences

• Published in: Nature 2007-05, Vol.447 (7141), p.167-177
• Main Authors: MIKKELSEN, Tarjei S, WAKEFIELD, Matthew J, JURKA, Jerzy, KAMAL, Michael, MAUCELI, Evan, SEARLE, Stephen M. J, SHARPE, Ted, BAKER, Michelle L, BATZER, Mark A, BENOS, Panayiotis V, BELOV, Katherine, CLAMP, Michele, AKEN, Bronwen, C, April, CUFF, James, DAS, Radhika, DAVIDOW, Lance, DEAKIN, Janine E, FAZZARI, Melissa J, GLASS, Jacob L, GRABHERR, Manfred, GREALLY, John M, WANJUN GU, AMEMIYA, Chris T, HORE, Timothy A, HUTTLEY, Gavin A, KLEBER, Michael, JIRTLE, Randy L, KOINA, Edda, LEE, Jeannie T, MAHONY, Shaun, MARRA, Marco A, MILLER, Robert D, NICHOLLS, Robert D, CHANG, Jean L, ODA, Mayumi, PAPENFUSS, Anthony T, PARRA, Zuly E, POLLOCK, David D, RAY, David A, SCHEIN, Jacqueline E, SPEED, Terence P, THOMPSON, Katherine, VANDEBERG, John L, WADE, Claire M, DUKE, Shannon, GARBER, Manuel, GENTLES, Andrew J, GOODSTADT, Leo, HEGER, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Base Composition; Biological and medical sciences; Chromosomes; Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids; Conserved Sequence - genetics; DNA Transposable Elements - genetics; Eutheria; Evolution, Molecular; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Genome - genetics; Genomics; Humans; Inactivation; Inventions; Mammals; Marsupials; MEDICIN; MEDICINE; Metatheria; Monodelphis domestica; Opossums - genetics; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics; Protein Biosynthesis; Synteny - genetics; Vertebrata; X Chromosome Inactivation - genetics
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4687; 1476-4679
• DOI: 10.1038/nature05805

We report a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of the grey, short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). As the first metatherian ('marsupial') species to be sequenced, the opossum provides a unique perspective on the organization and evolution of mammalian genomes. Distinctive features of the opossum chromosomes provide support for recent theories about genome evolution and function, including a strong influence of biased gene conversion on nucleotide sequence composition, and a relationship between chromosomal characteristics and X chromosome inactivation. Comparison of opossum and eutherian genomes also reveals a sharp difference in evolutionary innovation between protein-coding and non-coding functional elements. True innovation in protein-coding genes seems to be relatively rare, with lineage-specific differences being largely due to diversification and rapid turnover in gene families involved in environmental interactions. In contrast, about 20% of eutherian conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) are recent inventions that postdate the divergence of Eutheria and Metatheria. A substantial proportion of these eutherian-specific CNEs arose from sequence inserted by transposable elements, pointing to transposons as a major creative force in the evolution of mammalian gene regulation.