Comparative and demographic analysis of orang-utan genomes

The genome of the Southeast Asian great ape or orang-utan has been sequenced — specifically a draft assembly of a Sumatran female individual and short-read sequence data from five further Sumatran and five Bornean orang-utan, Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus, respectively. Orang-utan species appear to have split around 400,000 years ago, more recent than most previous estimates suggested, resulting in an average Bornean–Sumatran nucleotide identity of 99.68%. Structural evolution of the orang-utan genome seems to have proceeded much more slowly than that of other great apes, including chimpanzees and humans. With both orang-utan species on the endangered list, the authors hope that knowledge of the genome…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: U54 HG003079, HG002385, GM59290, R01 GM59290, AG022064, HG003079, U54 HG003273
• MR
  Medical Research Council
• NH
  National Human Genome Research Institute

  Awards: U54 HG003273, U54 HG003079, HG003079, HG003273