據(jù)中國之聲《央廣新聞》報道,，一個由韓國、中國,、俄羅斯,、蒙古等國研究者組成的國際科研團(tuán)隊，近期成功破譯了全球首個東北虎基因組,。
在研究中,，科研人員歷時三年對一只來自韓國的9歲雄性的東北虎進(jìn)行了全基因組的測序和分析，這也是人類首次獲得老虎的全基因組圖譜,，有助于研究大型貓科動物的遺傳多樣性和保護(hù)瀕危動物,。
分析顯示，老虎的基因組中有20226個控制蛋白質(zhì)編碼的基因,，從中可以分析出與大型貓科動物肉食特性和高肌肉強(qiáng)度相關(guān)的一系列基因,。為了對大型貓科動物進(jìn)行系統(tǒng)比較及分析，科研人員還對一只白色的孟加拉虎,、一只非洲獅以及一只白色的非洲獅和一只雪豹進(jìn)行了基因組測序,。在老虎和其他的多種哺乳動物基因組對比中發(fā)現(xiàn)，老虎和家貓的基因同源性非常的高,，有98.8%的基因編碼區(qū)和98.3%的同線性保守區(qū)相吻合。
東北虎又稱西伯利亞虎,，是現(xiàn)存體重最大的貓科動物,。據(jù)估計，現(xiàn)在全球存量不超過4千只，如果不采用自然保護(hù)區(qū)和人工繁育的辦法,，可能在不久的將來,，東北虎將徹底離開人們的視線。（生物谷 Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦的英文摘要
Nature Communications doi:10.1038/ncomms3433
The tiger genome and comparative analysis with lion and snow leopard genomes
Yun Sung Cho, Li Hu, Haolong Hou, Hang Lee, Jiaohui Xu, Soowhan Kwon, Sukhun Oh, Hak-Min Kim, Sungwoong Jho, Sangsoo Kim, Young-Ah Shin, Byung Chul Kim, Hyunmin Kim, Chang-uk Kim, Shu-Jin Luo, Warren E. Johnson, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Anne Schmidt-Küntzel, Jason A. Turner, Laurie Marker, Cindy Harper, Susan M. Miller, Wilhelm Jacobs, Laura D. Bertola, Tae Hyung Kim, Sunghoon Lee, Qian Zhou, Hyun-Ju Jung, Xiao Xu, Priyvrat Gadhvi, Pengwei Xu, Yingqi Xiong, Yadan Luo, Shengkai Pan, Caiyun Gou, Xiuhui Chu, Jilin Zhang, Sanyang Liu, Jing He, Ying Chen, Linfeng Yang, Yulan Yang, Jiaju He, Sha Liu, Junyi Wang, Chul Hong Kim, Hwanjong Kwak, Jong-Soo Kim, Seungwoo Hwang, Junsu Ko, Chang-Bae Kim, Sangtae Kim, Damdin Bayarlkhagva, Woon Kee Paek, Seong-Jin Kim, Stephen J. O’Brien, Jun Wang & Jong Bhak
Tigers and their close relatives (Panthera) are some of the world’s most endangered species. Here we report the de novo assembly of an Amur tiger whole-genome sequence as well as the genomic sequences of a white Bengal tiger, African lion, white African lion and snow leopard. Through comparative genetic analyses of these genomes, we find genetic signatures that may reflect molecular adaptations consistent with the big cats’ hypercarnivorous diet and muscle strength. We report a snow leopard-specific genetic determinant in EGLN1 (Met39>Lys39), which is likely to be associated with adaptation to high altitude. We also detect a TYR260G>A mutation likely responsible for the white lion coat colour. Tiger and cat genomes show similar repeat composition and an appreciably conserved synteny. Genomic data from the five big cats provide an invaluable resource for resolving easily identifiable phenotypes evident in very close, but distinct, species.
