生物谷報道：人與黑猩猩的顯著差別,，不在于所擁有的基因，因為兩者的基因的相似程度高達(dá)99%,，而是在于對這些基因的調(diào)控上,，一項來自杜克大學(xué)（Duke University）的研究報告稱。
這似乎像是同樣一把小刀,，卻可以有不同的用法,。文章刊登在了8月12日Nature Genetics雜志的網(wǎng)站上。
有兩個主要的特征讓黑猩猩與其他的靈長類動物區(qū)別開來,，即腦和飲食,。經(jīng)過仔細(xì)分析之后，發(fā)現(xiàn)掌控基因何時表達(dá)何時關(guān)閉的復(fù)雜對話——基因調(diào)控（gene regulation）,，表現(xiàn)出明顯地差異性,。
“正向選擇，就是說有助于生存和繁衍的遺傳突變在種群中不斷擴(kuò)散開來,，影響著針對腦和神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)以及營養(yǎng)的調(diào)控,，” 生物學(xué)教授Gregory Wray 實驗室的博士后Ralph Haygood介紹說,，他是該研究性文章的第一作者。
原始出處:
Nature Genetics
Published online: 12 August 2007 | doi:10.1038/ng2104
Promoter regions of many neural- and nutrition-related genes have experienced positive selection during human evolution
Ralph Haygood1,3, Olivier Fedrigo1,2,3, Brian Hanson1, Ken-Daigoro Yokoyama1 & Gregory A Wray1,2
Abstract
Surveys of protein-coding sequences for evidence of positive selection in humans or chimpanzees have flagged only a few genes known to function in neural or nutritional processes1, 2, 3, 4, 5, despite pronounced differences between humans and chimpanzees in behavior, cognition and diet6, 7, 8. It may be that most such differences are due to changes in gene regulation rather than protein structure9. Here, we present the first survey of promoter (5'-flanking) regions, which are rich in cis-regulatory sequences, for evidence of positive selection in humans. Our results indicate that positive selection has targeted the regulation of many genes known to be involved in neural development and function, both in the brain and elsewhere in the nervous system, and in nutrition, particularly in glucose metabolism.
Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Ralph Haygood1,3 e-mail: [email protected]
