PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

LSU researchers show mobile elements monkeying around the genome

An LSU research team led by Mark Batzer, a geneticist, along with 30 collaborators around the world present new research in the journal Science on surprising genetic diversity and commonality among six very different-looking species of African baboons.

2023-06-01
(Press-News.org)

Baboons (Papio) are found across the continent of Africa, from the west to the east and all the way south. They have doglike noses, impressive teeth and thick fur that ranges widely in color between the six species, which are olive, yellow, chacma, Kinda, Guinea and hamadryas. Their habitats vary from savannas and bushlands to tropical forests and mountains. Chacma baboons, the largest at up to 100 pounds, are even found in the Kalahari Desert, while the neighboring Kinda baboons, the smallest at around 30 pounds, stay near water. Most live in large troops with dozens or hundreds of members. While most baboons are polygynandrous, with males and females mating with multiple partners, hamadryas baboons, also called sacred baboons, live exclusively in units of one male and multiple females.

In a paper published today in the journal Science, “Genome-wide Coancestry Reveals Details of Ancient and Recent Male-driven Reticulation in Baboons,” researchers show surprising amounts of genetic admixture between baboon species, something that also likely occurred in early humans. Mark Batzer, Boyd Professor and the Dr. Mary Lou Applewhite Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at LSU; Jessica Storer, PhD, Batzer’s former student at LSU and now research scientist; and LSU research associate Jerilyn Walker all contributed to the research. Together, they analyzed the mobile or “transposable” genetic elements in samples from 225 baboon individuals from 19 geographical sites.

“Everybody believes their genome is perfectly stable, and that’s exactly wrong,” Batzer said. “Well over half of the genome is fluid in nature and moves around in and between individuals, and between generations and populations. This mobile part of the genome, or mobilome, provides important clues as to how different species are related to one another, how they differ and when two individuals share a common ancestor.”

Whole-genomic sequencing has revolutionized the amount and detail of genetic diversity now available to researchers to study. While the LSU researchers previously had looked at a few hundred mobile elements or “jumping genes,” primarily of the Alu and L1 types, they were now able to analyze over 200,000 elements computationally, confirming and expanding on previous studies. The broader research consortium includes more than 30 collaborators around the globe and was led by Jeffrey Rogers, associate professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.

“There are questions that were science fiction when I started in the field that are now perfectly approachable,” Batzer said. “We’re also brought back to this fundamental question, ‘What even is a species?’ When I was a young scientist, it meant reproductive isolation; no exchange of genes back and forth, and individuals from different species would form infertile hybrids. Well, that whole concept has evolved, and what we now see are free exchanges of genes back and forth, both in ancient times and more recently. In other words, there hasn’t been a linear trajectory of genetically isolated species that change through time.”

Mobile, transposable elements cause a subset of all genetic mutations known as structural genetic variants, one of the most important types of mutation in the genome. As such, mobile elements are responsible for some genetic diversity, but not all differences. Their activity, or rate of movement, is also variable between species, including at different times. While baboons currently are on “fast forward,” orangutans, for example, are almost on pause. Humans are somewhere in between.

“You can say mobile elements like Alu and L1 are involved in a genetic arms race or competition within the genome,” Batzer said. “The mobile elements attempt to expand in number, while the genome exerts control over that expansion, so the elements don’t ‘overrun’ the genome and cause so much havoc it risks killing the host. Some mobile elements are distant relatives of viruses, so some of the control systems are the same ones that control the spread of viruses.”

Apparent similarities, such as between two individuals of the same species, can disguise surprising amounts of genetic diversity, as one baboon can have almost as much in common—genetically speaking—with a baboon from a different species. The researchers were also able to show, for the very first time in non-human primates, how the yellow baboons in western Tanzania received genetic input from three distinct lineages—yellow, olive and Kinda.

“This was the first time we’ve seen three different species contribute to the genesis of one, and done it in detail,” Batzer said. “These high-resolution data sets allow us to draw much more accurate and detailed conclusions from the observations we make.”

Baboons and humans share about 91 percent of identical DNA. While humans have relatively small amounts of variation from each other, baboons are genetically more diverse.  Bigger mobile elements called LINE elements, such as L1, carry around enzymatic machinery that helps them and the smaller Alu elements mobilize and drive change in mammals (L1) and primates (Alu).

Mobile and transposable elements are in themselves diverse and effectively “monkey around” the genomes of all primates, including humans, as well as other species. The processes by which they impact the genome are called insertional mutagenesis, transduction and recombination. Tracking the insertions, which is Batzer’s specialty, offers two advantages in establishing shared or separate ancestry. First, the presence of a mobile element at a particular location in the genome represents identity by descent; the probability of an exact match without shared ancestry is near negligible. Second, it’s possible to trace insertions back to the point where they first appeared, thus establishing the ancestral genetic character state and unambiguously rooting species relationships.

“We now believe mobile elements are one of the single biggest driving forces impacting genomes, and not just among primates, but across many mammals and many non-mammalian systems as well,” Batzer said.

Next, the LSU research team will investigate the mobilization and genomic impact of a recently identified transposable element in South American primates.

Mark Batzer is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a National Academy of Inventors senior member. His research at LSU has been supported by multiple federal and state agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Louisiana Board of Regents. Batzer is ranked among the world’s best geneticists according to the latest Research.com rankings and received his Ph.D. from LSU in 1988.

LSU does not keep or conduct tests on baboons. All samples for the study were gathered in Africa in accordance with local regulations, including at protected sites.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The Primate Genome Project unlocks hidden secrets of primate evolution

The Primate Genome Project unlocks hidden secrets of primate evolution
2023-06-01
Co-led by Guojie Zhang from Centre for Evolutionary & Organismal Biology at Zhejiang University, Dong-Dong Wu at Kunming Institute of Zoology, Xiao-Guang Qi at Northwest University, Li Yu at Yunnan University, Mikkel Heide Schierup at Aarhus University, and Yang Zhou at BGI-Research, the Primate Genome Consortium reported a series of publications from its first phase program which includes high quality reference genomes from 50 primate species of which 27 were sequenced for the first time. These studies provide new insights on the speciation process, genomic diversity, social evolution, ...

Major primate genome sequencing studies reveal new insight into evolution, biodiversity and key applications for human health

2023-06-01
HOUSTON – (June 1, 2023) – A new investigation led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center, the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, and Illumina, Inc. analyzed the genomes of 233 nonhuman primate species and revealed key features of primate evolution, human disease and biodiversity conservation. The findings are published in a series of studies in a special issue of the journal Science. The Primate Genome Project generated the most complete ...

Tiny quantum electronic vortexes can circulate in superconductors in ways not seen before

Tiny quantum electronic vortexes can circulate in superconductors in ways not seen before
2023-06-01
Within superconductors little tornadoes of electrons, known as quantum vortices, can occur which have important implications in superconducting applications such as quantum sensors. Now a new kind of superconducting vortex has been found, an international team of researchers reports. Egor Babaev, professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, says the study revises the prevailing understanding of how electronic flow can occur in superconductors, based on work about quantum vortices that was recognized in the 2003 Nobel Prize award. The ...

University of Miami selected to prestigious Association of American Universities

University of Miami selected to prestigious Association of American Universities
2023-06-01
The University of Miami has been chosen as one of the newest members of the esteemed Association of American Universities (AAU), a distinguished national organization of leading research universities founded in 1900. The invitation to join the prestigious organization—considered the gold standard in American higher education—comes as the University’s research and sponsored program expenditures totaled more than $413 million in fiscal year 2022, demonstrating a critical focus to address the world’s most complex issues. “There are special moments in the life of a university that not only reward our hard work but, more importantly, ...

Dr. Robert Harrington named dean of Weill Cornell Medicine

2023-06-01
Dr. Robert A. Harrington, a cardiologist and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University, has been named the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University. The appointment was approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees and the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows. Harrington - also a member of the National Academy of Medicine - will begin his new position on Sept. 12. A past president of the American Heart Association (AHA), ...

Early career scientist wins prestigious Hungarian physics award

Early career scientist wins prestigious Hungarian physics award
2023-06-01
Laszlo Horvath, an early career physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) stationed at General Atomics in San Diego, is the winner of the 2022 Károly Simonyi Memorial Plaque from the Hungarian Nuclear Society. Established in 2007, the plaque “recognizes Hungarian researchers and engineers with outstanding achievements in the field of fusion plasma physics and technology.” Horvath learned he had won the Simonyi Memorial Plaque not long ...

More evidence needed to confirm promise of remote or decentralized trials

More evidence needed to confirm promise of remote or decentralized trials
2023-06-01
There’s one question that Hollings Cancer Center researcher Jennifer Dahne, Ph.D., co-director of the remote and virtual trials program at the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute, hears more than any other as she consults with clinical researchers about how to set up remote trials, also known as decentralized trials. Will these trials overcome the barriers that make it difficult for minority and underserved populations to participate in clinical trials? It’s also a question she often discusses ...

Forest birds with short, round wings more sensitive to habitat fragmentation, OSU study shows

Forest birds with short, round wings more sensitive to habitat fragmentation, OSU study shows
2023-06-01
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Tropical forest birds, which tend to have wings that are short and round relative to their body length and shape, are more sensitive to habitat fragmentation than the long-, slender-winged species common in temperate forests, according to an international collaboration that included scientists from Oregon State University. OSU’s Matt Betts and Christopher Wolf teamed with 14 other authors to analyze the wings of more than 1,000 species worldwide in a study led by Thomas Weeks of Imperial College London and ...

Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe

Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe
2023-06-01
Key takeaways After the Big Bang, the universe expanded and cooled sufficiently for hydrogen atoms to form. In the absence of light from the first stars and galaxies, the universe entered a period known as the cosmic dark ages. The first stars and galaxies appeared several hundred million years later and began burning away the hydrogen fog left over from the Big Bang, rendering the universe transparent, like it is today. Researchers led by astrophysicists from UCLA confirmed the existence of a distant, faint galaxy ...

Stress granules control Alzheimer's gene transcripts and neuronal proteostasis

Stress granules control Alzheimers gene transcripts and neuronal proteostasis
2023-06-01
“Determining the mechanism underlying RNA sequestration in [stress granules] [...] could represent a key goal in the discovery and development of suitable [Alzheimer’s disease] biomarkers and therapies.” BUFFALO, NY- June 1, 2023 – A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 10, entitled, “Stress granules sequester Alzheimer’s disease-associated gene transcripts and regulate disease-related neuronal proteostasis.” Environmental and physiological stresses ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Modesty and boastfulness – perception depends on usual performance

Do sweeteners increase your appetite? New evidence from randomised controlled trial says no 

Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

Study flips treatment paradigm in bilateral Wilms tumor, shows resistance to chemotherapy may point toward favorable outcomes

[Press-News.org] LSU researchers show mobile elements monkeying around the genome
An LSU research team led by Mark Batzer, a geneticist, along with 30 collaborators around the world present new research in the journal Science on surprising genetic diversity and commonality among six very different-looking species of African baboons.