主页 > 医药科学 >
【科技新闻】长臂猿登上测序舞台
http://www.sciencetimes.com.cn/col1/col49/article.htm1?id=76606
群芳 译自www.science.com，
位于美国马里兰州贝塞斯达市的国家人类基因组研究所（NHGRI）正在为生活在地球上的灵长类动物绘制新的家谱。首先，该研究所在人类基因组的测序工作中扮演了一个重要角色。随后，黑猩猩的脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）也在这里享受了明星般的待遇。而将这两种基因组进行对比，无疑为更好地了解人类DNA提供了难以置信的帮助。在此基础上，NHGRI又将目光瞄准了恒河猴、狨猴、猩猩和大猩猩。如今，长臂猿也加入了这个行列。
7月19日，NHGRI将北方白颊长臂猿(Nomascus leucogenys)以及另外15种动物列入其基因组测序工作的初始名单。一旦掌握了长臂猿的基因组，进化生物学家将拥有灵长类家族世系图上每个主要分支的序列结构。这项工作将帮助研究人员搞清灵长类动物的进化历程以及基因在疾病中扮演的角色。
自从第一种复杂生物体——线虫——于1998年被成功测序的那一刻起，研究人员就一直试图搞清ATGC（腺嘌呤、胸腺嘧啶、鸟嘌呤和胞嘧啶）这4个“字母”的真正含义。为什么要测定其他生物的基因组呢？这是因为比较相关生物体的DNA是确定DNA的调节区域以及其他重要基因组成分的关键。为了进一步研究基因组的工作机制，NHGRI会定期征询研究人员的意见，请他们推荐基因组测序的下一个候选目标。
NHGRI主任Francis Collins指出，长臂猿之所以最终胜出，是由于它是人类的“表亲”，并且将最终帮助生物医学研究人员找出疾病的遗传基础。该研究所希望能够在3年内完成长臂猿的基因组测序工作。NHGRI同时还将加强大象、猫、蝙蝠、兔、犰狳、豚鼠和树鼯的基因组测序工作——NHGRI之前曾决定只对这些哺乳动物的少量基因进行测序。
在对位于进化树顶端的动物进行测序的同时，NHGRI也将目光瞄准了这棵大树的根基。该研究所宣布，其测序中心将对10种原生生物进行基因组测序，其中的一些原生生物与群体和单细胞物种有着密切关系。在这项研究中，科学家们希望能够找出与多细胞生物进化相关的基因。如今，新的测序途径包括5种普通真菌病原体和50个酵母菌株。
如果每项新的基因组测序工作都能够顺利完成，那么将帮助研究人员更好了解人类基因组。华盛顿州西雅图市华盛顿国家灵长类研究中心主任David Anderson表示：“这里有很多基因组，而我们只掌握其中的一点点信息。”Anderson说：“你将希望得到尽可能多的可供比较的基因组序列。”
Gibbon, It's Time for Your Close-Up
By Elizabeth Pennisi
ScienceNOW Daily News
20 July 2006
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in Bethesda, Maryland, is getting its primate house in order. First, the institute played a major role in sequencing the human genome. Then the chimp's DNA got the all-star treatment. And when comparing the two genomes proved incredibly useful for understanding our own DNA, NHGRI set its sights on the rhesus macaque, marmoset, orangutan, and gorilla. Now the gibbon is getting in line.
Yesterday, NHGRI added the northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys)--and 15 other species--to its burgeoning list of genomes to decipher. Once the gibbon genome is in hand, evolutionary biologists will have a sequence for each of the major branches of the primate family tree. The work should help researchers understand primate evolution and the role of genes in disease.
From the moment the first complex organism--a nematode--was sequenced in 1998, researchers have struggled to make sense of a veritable alphabet soup of A's, T's, G's, and C's. Sequencing other genomes has helped: Comparing the DNA of related organisms has been key to identifying regulatory regions of DNA and other essential genome components. To continue its quest to understand how genomes work, NHGRI has regularly solicited proposals from researchers asking them to recommend the next candidates for sequencing.
The gibbon won out because it's a second cousin to humans and, as such, will eventually help biomedical researchers pinpoint the genetic bases of disease, says NHGRI Director Francis Collins. The institute expects to have the genome sequenced within 3 years. NHGRI also agreed to improve on the sequences of the elephant, cat, bat, rabbit, armadillo, guinea pig, and tree shrew, mammals for which NHGRI had previously decided to produce just a small amount of sequence.
But at the same time that NHGRI is working on species at the tips of the evolutionary tree, the institute is also reaching down to the roots. It announced that its sequencing centers will decipher the genomes of 10 protists, some of which have closely related colonial and unicellular species. In doing so, researchers hope to pinpoint the genes key to the evolution of multicellular life. Also new to the sequencing pipeline are five common fungal pathogens and 50 yeast strains.
阅读本文的人还阅读：
作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-03-26 17:11
医学,生命科学网