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Sequencing of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) genome provides insights into vertebrate evolution
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Sequencing of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) genome provides insights into vertebrate evolution

Jeramiah J Smith, Shigehiro Kuraku, Carson Holt, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Ning Jiang, Michael S Campbell, Mark D Yandell, Tereza Manousaki, Axel Meyer, Ona E Bloom, …
Nature genetics, Vol.45(4), pp.415-421e2
04/2013
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2568
PMCID: PMC3709584
PMID: 23435085
url
https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2568View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Lampreys are representatives of an ancient vertebrate lineage that diverged from our own ~500 million years ago. By virtue of this deeply shared ancestry, the sea lamprey ( P. marinus ) genome is uniquely poised to provide insight into the ancestry of vertebrate genomes and the underlying principles of vertebrate biology. Here, we present the first lamprey whole-genome sequence and assembly. We note challenges faced owing to its high content of repetitive elements and GC bases, as well as the absence of broad-scale sequence information from closely related species. Analyses of the assembly indicate that two whole-genome duplications likely occurred before the divergence of ancestral lamprey and gnathostome lineages. Moreover, the results help define key evolutionary events within vertebrate lineages, including the origin of myelin-associated proteins and the development of appendages. The lamprey genome provides an important resource for reconstructing vertebrate origins and the evolutionary events that have shaped the genomes of extant organisms.

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