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Tetraodon to human
The draft genome sequence of the puffer fish Tetraodon nigroviridis
is published this week. Tetraodon and the related Takifugu rubripes
have many advantages as tools for evolutionary genetics not least
the fact that they are the smallest known vertebrate genomes. Key genes
thought absent from fish have now been identified in Tetraodon,
and comparison with the human genome reveals 900 previously unannotated
human genes. At some time after its divergence from the mammals, a whole-genome
duplication occurred in the teleost fish lineage. Comparisons with the
human genome reveal the basic structure of the ancestral vertebrate genome
(the last known bony fish before emergence of the mammalian lineage) as
a compact unit of just 12 chromosomes.

Genome duplication in the teleost fish Tetraodon
nigroviridis reveals the early vertebrate proto-karyotype
OLIVIER JAILLON, JEAN-MARC AURY, FRÉDÉRIC BRUNET,
JEAN-LOUIS PETIT, NICOLE STANGE-THOMANN, EVAN MAUCELI, LAURENCE BOUNEAU,
CÉCILE FISCHER, CATHERINE OZOUF-COSTAZ, ALAIN BERNOT, SOPHIE NICAUD, DAVID
JAFFE, SHEILA FISHER, GEORGES LUTFALLA, CAROLE DOSSAT, BÉATRICE SEGURENS,
CORINNE DASILVA, MARCEL SALANOUBAT, MICHAEL LEVY, NATHALIE BOUDET, SERGI
CASTELLANO, VÉRONIQUE ANTHOUARD, CLAIRE JUBIN, VANINA CASTELLI, MICHAEL
KATINKA, BENOÎT VACHERIE, CHRISTIAN BIÉMONT, ZINEB SKALLI, LAURENCE
CATTOLICO, JULIE POULAIN, VÉRONIQUE DE BERARDINIS, CORINNE CRUAUD, SIMONE
DUPRAT, PHILIPPE BROTTIER, JEAN-PIERRE COUTANCEAU, JÉRÔME GOUZY,
GENIS PARRA, GUILLAUME LARDIER, CHARLES CHAPPLE, KEVIN J. MCKERNAN, PAUL
MCEWAN, STEPHANIE BOSAK, MANOLIS KELLIS, JEAN-NICOLAS VOLFF, RODERIC GUIGÓ,
MICHAEL C. ZODY, JILL MESIROV, KERSTIN LINDBLAD-TOH, BRUCE BIRREN, CHAD
NUSBAUM, DANIEL KAHN, MARC ROBINSON-RECHAVI, VINCENT LAUDET, VINCENT SCHACHTER,
FRANCIS QUÉTIER, WILLIAM SAURIN, CLAUDE SCARPELLI, PATRICK WINCKER, ERIC
S. LANDER, JEAN WEISSENBACH & HUGUES ROEST CROLLIUS
Nature 431, 946957 (2004); doi:10.1038/nature03025
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Comparative genomics: Small genome, big insights
JOHN MULLEY & PETER HOLLAND
The genome of a second pufferfish species has been sequenced. Why is this
important? Because comparing this genome with that of other animals yields
a wealth of information on genome evolution.
Nature 431, 916917 (2004); doi:10.1038/431916a
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October 2004 table of contents
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