The chimpanzee fetuses used in our study showed a significant agerelated change in brain volume over the course of the study period (Figure 1B,C). The volume of the chimpanzee brain increased nonlinearly from 14 to 34 weeks of gestation (F = 634.28; cubic effect, p < 0.0001) (Figure 1C). The brain volume of the chimpanzee was only half that of the human fetus at 16 weeks of gestation (15.8 cm3;...

Here, we report the sequencing and analysis of eight complete mitochondrial genomes of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) from each of the three established subspecies (P. t. troglodytes, P. t. schweinfurthii and P. t. verus) and the proposed fourth subspecies (P. t. ellioti). Our population genetic analyses are consistent with neutral patterns of evolution that have been shaped by demography. The h...

With more than 1.2 million copies, Alu elements are one of the most important sources of structural variation in primate genomes. Here, we compare the chimpanzee and human genomes to determine the extent of Alu recombination-mediated deletion (ARMD) in the chimpanzee genome since the divergence of the chimpanzee and human lineages ( approximately 6 million y ago). Combining computational data a...

The TSPY gene stands out from all other human protein-coding genes because of its high copy number and tandemly-repeated organization. Here, we review its evolutionary history in great apes in order to assess whether these unusual properties are more likely to result from a relaxation of constraint or an unusual functional role. Detailed comparisons with chimpanzee are possible because a finish...

Chimpanzees are used for a variety of disease models such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, where Ag-specific T cells are thought to be critical for resolution of infection. The variable segments of the TCR alphabeta genes are polymorphic and contain putative binding sites for MHC class I and II molecules. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of genes that comprise the TCR b...

Alpha satellites are tandemly repeated sequences found in all human centromeres. In addition to the functional and structural role within centromere they are also a suitable model for evolutionary studies, because of being subject to concerted evolution. The Global Repeat Map (GRM) algorithm is a convenient computational tool to determine consensus repeat units and their exact size within a giv...

Background: The SRY gene (SRY) provides instructions for making a transcription factor called the sex-determining region Y protein. The sex-determining region Y protein causes a fetus to develop as a male. In this study, SRY of 15 spices included of human, chimpanzee, dog, pig, rat, cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, horse, zebra, frog, urial, dolphin and killer whale were used for determine of bioi...

We report here the full-length genome sequence of a novel chimpanzee polyomavirus. Viral sequences were recovered from colon, bladder, and ureter tissue from a western common chimpanzee. The virus is genetically closely related to the human BK polyomavirus.

Molecular clocks have been used to date the divergence of humans and chimpanzees for nearly four decades. Nonetheless, this date and its confidence interval remain to be firmly established. In an effort to generate a genomic view of the human-chimpanzee divergence, we have analyzed 167 nuclear protein-coding genes and built a reliable confidence interval around the calculated time by applying a...