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山大王伟等通过蛋白质组学揭示巨猿进化时期
作者:小柯机器人 发布时间:2019/11/14 14:34:30

山东大学王伟教授,与丹麦哥本哈根大学Enrico Cappellini、Frido Welker、西班牙庞培法布拉大学进化生物学研究所Tomas Marques-Bonet等研究人员合作,通过牙釉质蛋白组学研究发现巨猿是一种早期分化的类群。该研究成果11月13在线发表在《自然》上。

研究人员从中国翠峰洞发现的一个距今190万年的G. blacki磨牙中检测了牙釉质蛋白质组的序列。这些蛋白质序列的热年龄比任何先前发表的哺乳动物蛋白质组或基因组的热年龄大大约五倍。研究人员证明,巨猿是猩猩的一个进化分枝,属于猩猩(Pongo属),其共同祖先大约在12到1000万年前,这意味着巨猿从Pongo的分离出来并构成了中新世时期巨猿的一部分。此外,研究人员还假设先前未在釉质蛋白质组中观察到的α-2-HS-糖蛋白的表达在厚实的釉质冠生物矿化过程中起作用,而釉质冠是巨人古猿中具有的较大臼齿。更新世时期亚热带牙齿牙釉质蛋白质组的揭示,进一步将古蛋白质组学分析的范围扩展到了与之前认为的保存大量遗传信息不相容的地理区域和时间段。

步氏巨猿是一个巨大的人科动物,在更新世时期居住在东南亚茂密的森林中。尚不清楚它与其他大猿物种的进化关系,以及中新世中晚期(16-530万年前)这些物种之间的差异。关于巨猿科动物与已灭绝和现存人类之间关系的假设很多,但由于其牙颌形态高度衍生,颅骨和颅后残骸以及独立分子的缺乏而难以证实。

据山东大学报道,这是首次在距今193万年的巨猿化石中成功提取遗传信息,并确认了这个早已绝灭的物种与亚洲猩猩存在密切的演化关系,也是在亚热带地区的化石中首次提取年代如此古老的蛋白质证据。

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王伟,山东大学文化遗产研究院教授。近期研究方向:东亚现代人起源与扩散、中国南方第四纪大型哺乳动物演化与绝灭事件。(据山东大学文化遗产研究院

附:英文原文

Title: Enamel proteome shows that Gigantopithecus was an early diverging pongine

Author: Frido Welker, Jazmn Ramos-Madrigal, Martin Kuhlwilm, Wei Liao, Petra Gutenbrunner, Marc de Manuel, Diana Samodova, Meaghan Mackie, Morten E. Allentoft, Anne-Marie Bacon, Matthew J. Collins, Jrgen Cox, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Jesper V. Olsen, Fabrice Demeter, Wei Wang, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Enrico Cappellini

Issue&Volume: 2019-11-13

Abstract: Gigantopithecus blacki was a giant hominid that inhabited densely forested environments of Southeast Asia during the Pleistocene epoch1. Its evolutionary relationships to other great ape species, and the divergence of these species during the Middle and Late Miocene epoch (165.3 million years ago), remain unclear2,3. Hypotheses regarding the relationships between Gigantopithecus and extinct and extant hominids are wide ranging but difficult to substantiate because of its highly derived dentognathic morphology, the absence of cranial and post-cranial remains1,36, and the lack of independent molecular validation. We retrieved dental enamel proteome sequences from a 1.9-million-year-old G. blacki molar found in Chuifeng Cave, China7,8. The thermal age of these protein sequences is approximately five times greater than that of any previously published mammalian proteome or genome. We demonstrate that Gigantopithecus is a sister clade to orangutans (genus Pongo) with a common ancestor about 1210 million years ago, implying that the divergence of Gigantopithecus from Pongo forms part of the Miocene radiation of great apes. In addition, we hypothesize that the expression of alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein, which has not been previously observed in enamel proteomes, had a role in the biomineralization of the thick enamel crowns that characterize the large molars in Gigantopithecus9,10. The survival of an Early Pleistocene dental enamel proteome in the subtropics further expands the scope of palaeoproteomic analysis into geographical areas and time periods previously considered incompatible with the preservation of substantial amounts of genetic information. The enamel proteome from a 1.9-million-year-old Gigantopithecus tooth shows that the Gigantopithecus and Pongo (orangutan) lineages diverged 1210 million years ago.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1728-8

Source:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1728-8

 

期刊信息

Nature:《自然》,创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团,最新IF:43.07
官方网址:http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接:http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html