Resolution of the African hominoid trichotomy by use of a mitochondrial gene sequence

Journal Article · Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.88.4.1570· OSTI ID:6144375

Ruvolo, M; Disotell, T R; Allard, M W ^[1]; Brown, W M ^[2]; Honeycutt, R L ^[3]

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1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
2. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor (United States)
3. Texas A and M Univ., College Station (United States)

Mitochondrial DNA sequences encoding the cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene have been determined for five primate species, siamang (Hylobates syndactylus), lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus), crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), and green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), and compared with published sequences of other primate and nonprimate species. Comparisons of cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene sequences provide clear-cut evidence from the mitochondrial genome for the separation of the African ape trichotomy into two evolutionary lineages, one leading to gorillas and the other to humans and chimpanzees. Several different tree-building methods support this same phylogenetic tree topology. The comparisons also yield trees in which a substantial length separates the divergence point of gorillas from that of humans and chimpanzees, suggesting that the lineage most immediately ancestral to humans and chimpanzees may have been in existence for a relatively long time.

• OSTI ID: 6144375
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States), Vol. 88:4; ISSN 0027-8424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
CYTOCHROME OXIDASE
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
GENES
DNA SEQUENCING
APES
GENE AMPLIFICATION
MITOCHONDRIA
PRIMATES
SULFUR 35
ANIMALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CELL CONSTITUENTS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ENZYMES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HAEM DEHYDROGENASES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAMMALS
NUCLEI
OXIDOREDUCTASES
RADIOISOTOPES
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SULFUR ISOTOPES
VERTEBRATES
550401* - Genetics- Tracer Techniques