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1. A genomic timescale for placental mammal evolution

Author

Foley, Nicole M, Mason, Victor C, Harris, Andrew J, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Damas, Joana, Lewin, Harris A, Eizirik, Eduardo, Gatesy, John, Karlsson, Elinor K, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Springer, Mark S, Murphy, William J, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gazal, Steven, Genereux, Diane P, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Li, Xue, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Ryder, Oliver A, Sabeti, Pardis C, Schäffer, Daniel E, Serres, Aitor, Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, Srinivasan, Chaitanya, Steiner, Cynthia, Storer, Jessica M, Sullivan, Kevin AM, Sullivan, Patrick F, and Sundström, Elisabeth

Subjects
Genetics, Human Genome, Biotechnology, Animals, Female, Biological Evolution, Eutheria, Evolution, Molecular, Fossils, Genomics, Phylogeny, Genetic Variation, Time Factors, Zoonomia Consortium‡, General Science & Technology
Abstract

The precise pattern and timing of speciation events that gave rise to all living placental mammals remain controversial. We provide a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of genetic variation across an alignment of 241 placental mammal genome assemblies, addressing prior concerns regarding limited genomic sampling across species. We compared neutral genome-wide phylogenomic signals using concatenation and coalescent-based approaches, interrogated phylogenetic variation across chromosomes, and analyzed extensive catalogs of structural variants. Interordinal relationships exhibit relatively low rates of phylogenomic conflict across diverse datasets and analytical methods. Conversely, X-chromosome versus autosome conflicts characterize multiple independent clades that radiated during the Cenozoic. Genomic time trees reveal an accumulation of cladogenic events before and immediately after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, implying important roles for Cretaceous continental vicariance and the K-Pg extinction in the placental radiation.

Published
2023

2. Comparative genomics of Balto, a famous historic dog, captures lost diversity of 1920s sled dogs

Author

Moon, Katherine L, Huson, Heather J, Morrill, Kathleen, Wang, Ming-Shan, Li, Xue, Srikanth, Krishnamoorthy, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Svenson, Gavin J, Karlsson, Elinor K, Shapiro, Beth, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Genereux, Diane P, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Ryder, Oliver A, Sabeti, Pardis C, Schäffer, Daniel E, Serres, Aitor, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, Srinivasan, Chaitanya, Steiner, Cynthia, Storer, Jessica M, Sullivan, Kevin AM, Sullivan, Patrick F, Sundström, Elisabeth, Supple, Megan A, and Swofford, Ross

Subjects
Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences, Biological Sciences, Genetics, Animals, Dogs, Male, Genome, Genomics, Genotype, Phenotype, Wolves, Biodiversity, Genetic Variation, Zoonomia Consortium, General Science & Technology
Abstract

We reconstruct the phenotype of Balto, the heroic sled dog renowned for transporting diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, in 1925, using evolutionary constraint estimates from the Zoonomia alignment of 240 mammals and 682 genomes from dogs and wolves of the 21st century. Balto shares just part of his diverse ancestry with the eponymous Siberian husky breed. Balto's genotype predicts a combination of coat features atypical for modern sled dog breeds, and a slightly smaller stature. He had enhanced starch digestion compared with Greenland sled dogs and a compendium of derived homozygous coding variants at constrained positions in genes connected to bone and skin development. We propose that Balto's population of origin, which was less inbred and genetically healthier than that of modern breeds, was adapted to the extreme environment of 1920s Alaska.

Published
2023

3. The contribution of historical processes to contemporary extinction risk in placental mammals

Author

Wilder, Aryn P, Supple, Megan A, Subramanian, Ayshwarya, Mudide, Anish, Swofford, Ross, Serres-Armero, Aitor, Steiner, Cynthia, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Genereux, Diane P, Karlsson, Elinor K, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Munoz Fuentes, Violeta, Foley, Kathleen, Meyer, Wynn K, Ryder, Oliver A, Shapiro, Beth, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Li, Xue, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Sabeti, Pardis C, Schäffer, Daniel E, Serres, Aitor, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, and Srinivasan, Chaitanya

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Behavioral and Social Science, Human Genome, Basic Behavioral and Social Science, Life on Land, Animals, Female, Pregnancy, Eutheria, Extinction, Biological, Genetic Variation, Genome, Population Density, Risk, Zoonomia Consortium‡, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Species persistence can be influenced by the amount, type, and distribution of diversity across the genome, suggesting a potential relationship between historical demography and resilience. In this study, we surveyed genetic variation across single genomes of 240 mammals that compose the Zoonomia alignment to evaluate how historical effective population size (Ne) affects heterozygosity and deleterious genetic load and how these factors may contribute to extinction risk. We find that species with smaller historical Ne carry a proportionally larger burden of deleterious alleles owing to long-term accumulation and fixation of genetic load and have a higher risk of extinction. This suggests that historical demography can inform contemporary resilience. Models that included genomic data were predictive of species' conservation status, suggesting that, in the absence of adequate census or ecological data, genomic information may provide an initial risk assessment.

Published
2023

4. The functional and evolutionary impacts of human-specific deletions in conserved elements

Author

Xue, James R, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Mouri, Kousuke, Garcia, Meilin Fernandez, Dong, Michael X, Akers, Jared F, Noble, Mark, Li, Xue, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K, Noonan, James P, Capellini, Terence D, Brennand, Kristen J, Tewhey, Ryan, Sabeti, Pardis C, Reilly, Steven K, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Genereux, Diane P, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Lind, Abigail, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Ryder, Oliver A, Schäffer, Daniel E, Serres, Aitor, Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, Srinivasan, Chaitanya, and Steiner, Cynthia

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genetics, Biotechnology, Neurosciences, Human Genome, 1.1 Normal biological development and functioning, Underpinning research, Generic health relevance, Neurological, Humans, Conserved Sequence, Evolution, Molecular, Genome, Genomics, RNA-Binding Proteins, Sequence Deletion, Brain, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Zoonomia Consortium†, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Conserved genomic sequences disrupted in humans may underlie uniquely human phenotypic traits. We identified and characterized 10,032 human-specific conserved deletions (hCONDELs). These short (average 2.56 base pairs) deletions are enriched for human brain functions across genetic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic datasets. Using massively parallel reporter assays in six cell types, we discovered 800 hCONDELs conferring significant differences in regulatory activity, half of which enhance rather than disrupt regulatory function. We highlight several hCONDELs with putative human-specific effects on brain development, including HDAC5, CPEB4, and PPP2CA. Reverting an hCONDEL to the ancestral sequence alters the expression of LOXL2 and developmental genes involved in myelination and synaptic function. Our data provide a rich resource to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms driving new traits in humans and other species.

Published
2023

5. Integrating gene annotation with orthology inference at scale

Author

Kirilenko, Bogdan M, Munegowda, Chetan, Osipova, Ekaterina, Jebb, David, Sharma, Virag, Blumer, Moritz, Morales, Ariadna E, Ahmed, Alexis-Walid, Kontopoulos, Dimitrios-Georgios, Hilgers, Leon, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K, Hiller, Michael, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Genereux, Diane P, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Li, Xue, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Ryder, Oliver A, Sabeti, Pardis C, Schäffer, Daniel E, Serres, Aitor, Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, Srinivasan, Chaitanya, Steiner, Cynthia, Storer, Jessica M, Sullivan, Kevin AM, and Sullivan, Patrick F

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genetics, Biotechnology, Human Genome, Generic health relevance, Animals, Female, Mice, Eutheria, Genome, Genomics, Molecular Sequence Annotation, Birds, Zoonomia Consortium‡, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Annotating coding genes and inferring orthologs are two classical challenges in genomics and evolutionary biology that have traditionally been approached separately, limiting scalability. We present TOGA (Tool to infer Orthologs from Genome Alignments), a method that integrates structural gene annotation and orthology inference. TOGA implements a different paradigm to infer orthologous loci, improves ortholog detection and annotation of conserved genes compared with state-of-the-art methods, and handles even highly fragmented assemblies. TOGA scales to hundreds of genomes, which we demonstrate by applying it to 488 placental mammal and 501 bird assemblies, creating the largest comparative gene resources so far. Additionally, TOGA detects gene losses, enables selection screens, and automatically provides a superior measure of mammalian genome quality. TOGA is a powerful and scalable method to annotate and compare genes in the genomic era.

Published
2023

6. Relating enhancer genetic variation across mammals to complex phenotypes using machine learning

Author

Kaplow, Irene M, Lawler, Alyssa J, Schäffer, Daniel E, Srinivasan, Chaitanya, Sestili, Heather H, Wirthlin, Morgan E, Phan, BaDoi N, Prasad, Kavya, Brown, Ashley R, Zhang, Xiaomeng, Foley, Kathleen, Genereux, Diane P, Karlsson, Elinor K, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Meyer, Wynn K, Pfenning, Andreas R, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Li, Xue, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Ryder, Oliver A, Sabeti, Pardis C, Serres, Aitor, Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, and Steiner, Cynthia

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Genetics, Pediatric, Human Genome, Rare Diseases, Congenital Structural Anomalies, Underpinning research, 1.1 Normal biological development and functioning, Neurological, Mental health, Animals, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Genetic Variation, Machine Learning, Mammals, Phenotype, Zoonomia Consortium**, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Protein-coding differences between species often fail to explain phenotypic diversity, suggesting the involvement of genomic elements that regulate gene expression such as enhancers. Identifying associations between enhancers and phenotypes is challenging because enhancer activity can be tissue-dependent and functionally conserved despite low sequence conservation. We developed the Tissue-Aware Conservation Inference Toolkit (TACIT) to associate candidate enhancers with species' phenotypes using predictions from machine learning models trained on specific tissues. Applying TACIT to associate motor cortex and parvalbumin-positive interneuron enhancers with neurological phenotypes revealed dozens of enhancer-phenotype associations, including brain size-associated enhancers that interact with genes implicated in microcephaly or macrocephaly. TACIT provides a foundation for identifying enhancers associated with the evolution of any convergently evolved phenotype in any large group of species with aligned genomes.

Published
2023

7. Three-dimensional genome rewiring in loci with human accelerated regions

Author

Keough, Kathleen C, Whalen, Sean, Inoue, Fumitaka, Przytycki, Pawel F, Fair, Tyler, Deng, Chengyu, Steyert, Marilyn, Ryu, Hane, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor, Nowakowski, Tomasz, Ahituv, Nadav, Pollen, Alex, Pollard, Katherine S, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Genereux, Diane P, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Karlsson, Elinor K, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Li, Xue, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, Ryan, Louise, Ryder, Oliver A, Sabeti, Pardis C, Schäffer, Daniel E, Serres, Aitor, Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark, Srinivasan, Chaitanya, Steiner, Cynthia, Storer, Jessica M, and Sullivan, Kevin AM

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genetics, Stem Cell Research, Human Genome, Biotechnology, Underpinning research, 1.1 Normal biological development and functioning, Animals, Humans, Chromatin, Genome, Human, Genomics, Pan troglodytes, Genetic Loci, Neurogenesis, Deep Learning, Zoonomia Consortium§, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Human accelerated regions (HARs) are conserved genomic loci that evolved at an accelerated rate in the human lineage and may underlie human-specific traits. We generated HARs and chimpanzee accelerated regions with an automated pipeline and an alignment of 241 mammalian genomes. Combining deep learning with chromatin capture experiments in human and chimpanzee neural progenitor cells, we discovered a significant enrichment of HARs in topologically associating domains containing human-specific genomic variants that change three-dimensional (3D) genome organization. Differential gene expression between humans and chimpanzees at these loci suggests rewiring of regulatory interactions between HARs and neurodevelopmental genes. Thus, comparative genomics together with models of 3D genome folding revealed enhancer hijacking as an explanation for the rapid evolution of HARs.

Published
2023

8. Evolutionary constraint and innovation across hundreds of placental mammals

Author

Christmas, Matthew J, Kaplow, Irene M, Genereux, Diane P, Dong, Michael X, Hughes, Graham M, Li, Xue, Sullivan, Patrick F, Hindle, Allyson G, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Breit, Ana M, Diekhans, Mark, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Goodman, Daniel B, Goodman, Linda, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Lawless, Colleen, Lind, Abigail L, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Moreira, Lucas R, Redlich, Ruby W, Ryan, Louise, Swofford, Ross, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Wagner, Franziska, Wallerman, Ola, Brown, Ashley R, Damas, Joana, Fan, Kaili, Gatesy, John, Grimshaw, Jenna, Johnson, Jeremy, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Marinescu, Voichita D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Osmanski, Austin, Paulat, Nicole S, Phan, BaDoi N, Reilly, Steven K, Schäffer, Daniel E, Steiner, Cynthia, Supple, Megan A, Wilder, Aryn P, Wirthlin, Morgan E, Xue, James R, Birren, Bruce W, Gazal, Steven, Hubley, Robert M, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Meyer, Wynn K, Nweeia, Martin, Sabeti, Pardis C, Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian FA, Springer, Mark S, Teeling, Emma C, Weng, Zhiping, Hiller, Michael, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Paten, Benedict, Pollard, Katherine S, Ray, David A, Ruf, Irina, Ryder, Oliver A, Pfenning, Andreas R, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Clawson, Hiram, Di Palma, Federica, Eizirik, Eduardo, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, and Halsey, Michaela K

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genetics, Biotechnology, Human Genome, Animals, Female, Humans, Conserved Sequence, Eutheria, Evolution, Molecular, Genome, Human, Zoonomia Consortium§, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Zoonomia is the largest comparative genomics resource for mammals produced to date. By aligning genomes for 240 species, we identify bases that, when mutated, are likely to affect fitness and alter disease risk. At least 332 million bases (~10.7%) in the human genome are unusually conserved across species (evolutionarily constrained) relative to neutrally evolving repeats, and 4552 ultraconserved elements are nearly perfectly conserved. Of 101 million significantly constrained single bases, 80% are outside protein-coding exons and half have no functional annotations in the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) resource. Changes in genes and regulatory elements are associated with exceptional mammalian traits, such as hibernation, that could inform therapeutic development. Earth's vast and imperiled biodiversity offers distinctive power for identifying genetic variants that affect genome function and organismal phenotypes.

Published
2023

9. Leveraging base-pair mammalian constraint to understand genetic variation and human disease

Author

Sullivan, Patrick F, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Gazal, Steven, Phan, BaDoi N, Li, Xue, Genereux, Diane P, Dong, Michael X, Bianchi, Matteo, Andrews, Gregory, Sakthikumar, Sharadha, Nordin, Jessika, Roy, Ananya, Christmas, Matthew J, Marinescu, Voichita D, Wang, Chao, Wallerman, Ola, Xue, James, Yao, Shuyang, Sun, Quan, Szatkiewicz, Jin, Wen, Jia, Huckins, Laura M, Lawler, Alyssa, Keough, Kathleen C, Zheng, Zhili, Zeng, Jian, Wray, Naomi R, Li, Yun, Johnson, Jessica, Chen, Jiawen, Paten, Benedict, Reilly, Steven K, Hughes, Graham M, Weng, Zhiping, Pollard, Katherine S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Karlsson, Elinor K, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Armstrong, Joel C, Birren, Bruce W, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Clawson, Hiram, Damas, Joana, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Johnson, Jeremy, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Lewin, Harris A, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, and Navarro, Arcadi

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genetics, Biotechnology, Clinical Research, Human Genome, Brain Disorders, Generic health relevance, Animals, Humans, Biological Evolution, Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genomics, Molecular Sequence Annotation, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Disease, Zoonomia Consortium§, General Science & Technology
Abstract

Thousands of genomic regions have been associated with heritable human diseases, but attempts to elucidate biological mechanisms are impeded by an inability to discern which genomic positions are functionally important. Evolutionary constraint is a powerful predictor of function, agnostic to cell type or disease mechanism. Single-base phyloP scores from 240 mammals identified 3.3% of the human genome as significantly constrained and likely functional. We compared phyloP scores to genome annotation, association studies, copy-number variation, clinical genetics findings, and cancer data. Constrained positions are enriched for variants that explain common disease heritability more than other functional annotations. Our results improve variant annotation but also highlight that the regulatory landscape of the human genome still needs to be further explored and linked to disease.

Published
2023

10. Evolution of the ancestral mammalian karyotype and syntenic regions

Author

Damas, Joana, Corbo, Marco, Kim, Jaebum, Turner-Maier, Jason, Farré, Marta, Larkin, Denis M, Ryder, Oliver A, Steiner, Cynthia, Houck, Marlys L, Hall, Shaune, Shiue, Lily, Thomas, Stephen, Swale, Thomas, Daly, Mark, Korlach, Jonas, Uliano-Silva, Marcela, Mazzoni, Camila J, Birren, Bruce W, Genereux, Diane P, Johnson, Jeremy, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K, Nweeia, Martin T, Johnson, Rebecca N, Lewin, Harris A, Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C, Bianchi, Matteo, Bredemeyer, Kevin R, Breit, Ana M, Christmas, Matthew J, Clawson, Hiram, Di Palma, Federica, Diekhans, Mark, Dong, Michael X, Eizirik, Eduardo, Fan, Kaili, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M, Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Garcia, Carlos J, Gatesy, John, Gazal, Steven, Goodman, Linda, Grimshaw, Jenna, Halsey, Michaela K, Harris, Andrew J, Hickey, Glenn, Hiller, Michael, Hindle, Allyson G, Hubley, Robert M, Hughes, Graham M, Juan, David, Kaplow, Irene M, Keough, Kathleen C, Kirilenko, Bogdan, Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Korstian, Jennifer M, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Kozyrev, Sergey V, Lawler, Alyssa J, Lawless, Colleen, Lehmann, Thomas, Levesque, Danielle L, Li, Xue, Lind, Abigail, Mackay-Smith, Ava, Marinescu, Voichita D, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Mason, Victor C, Meadows, Jennifer RS, Meyer, Wynn K, Moore, Jill E, Moreira, Lucas R, Moreno-Santillan, Diana D, Morrill, Kathleen M, Muntané, Gerard, Murphy, William J, Navarro, Arcadi, Nweeia, Martin, Ortmann, Sylvia, Osmanski, Austin, Paten, Benedict, Paulat, Nicole S, Pfenning, Andreas R, Phan, BaDoi N, Pollard, Katherine S, Pratt, Henry E, Ray, David A, Reilly, Steven K, Rosen, Jeb R, Ruf, Irina, and Ryan, Louise

Subjects
Biological Sciences, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Human Genome, Generic health relevance, Animals, Cattle, Chromosomes, Mammalian, Eutheria, Evolution, Molecular, Humans, Karyotype, Mammals, Phylogeny, Sloths, Synteny, chromosome evolution, mammals, synteny conservation, ancestral genome reconstruction, topologically associating domains, Zoonomia Consortium
Abstract

Decrypting the rearrangements that drive mammalian chromosome evolution is critical to understanding the molecular bases of speciation, adaptation, and disease susceptibility. Using 8 scaffolded and 26 chromosome-scale genome assemblies representing 23/26 mammal orders, we computationally reconstructed ancestral karyotypes and syntenic relationships at 16 nodes along the mammalian phylogeny. Three different reference genomes (human, sloth, and cattle) representing phylogenetically distinct mammalian superorders were used to assess reference bias in the reconstructed ancestral karyotypes and to expand the number of clades with reconstructed genomes. The mammalian ancestor likely had 19 pairs of autosomes, with nine of the smallest chromosomes shared with the common ancestor of all amniotes (three still conserved in extant mammals), demonstrating a striking conservation of synteny for ∼320 My of vertebrate evolution. The numbers and types of chromosome rearrangements were classified for transitions between the ancestral mammalian karyotype, descendent ancestors, and extant species. For example, 94 inversions, 16 fissions, and 14 fusions that occurred over 53 My differentiated the therian from the descendent eutherian ancestor. The highest breakpoint rate was observed between the mammalian and therian ancestors (3.9 breakpoints/My). Reconstructed mammalian ancestor chromosomes were found to have distinct evolutionary histories reflected in their rates and types of rearrangements. The distributions of genes, repetitive elements, topologically associating domains, and actively transcribed regions in multispecies homologous synteny blocks and evolutionary breakpoint regions indicate that purifying selection acted over millions of years of vertebrate evolution to maintain syntenic relationships of developmentally important genes and regulatory landscapes of gene-dense chromosomes.

Published
2022

11. Leveraging base-pair mammalian constraint to understand genetic variation and human disease

Author

Sullivan, Patrick F., Meadows, Jennifer, Gazal, Steven, Phan, BaDoi N., Li, Xue, Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Bianchi, Matteo, Andrews, Gregory, Sakthikumar, Sharadha, Nordin, Jessika, Roy, Ananya, Christmas, Matthew, Marinescu, Voichita, Wang, Chao, Wallerman, Ola, Xue, James, Yao, Shuyang, Sun, Quan, Szatkiewicz, Jin, Wen, Jia, Huckins, Laura M., Lawler, Alyssa, Keough, Kathleen C., Zheng, Zhili, Zeng, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Li, Yun, Johnson, Jessica, Chen, Jiawen, Paten, Benedict, Reilly, Steven K., Hughes, Graham M., Weng, Zhiping, Pollard, Katherine S., Pfenning, Andreas R., Forsberg Nilsson, Karin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Sullivan, Patrick F., Meadows, Jennifer, Gazal, Steven, Phan, BaDoi N., Li, Xue, Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Bianchi, Matteo, Andrews, Gregory, Sakthikumar, Sharadha, Nordin, Jessika, Roy, Ananya, Christmas, Matthew, Marinescu, Voichita, Wang, Chao, Wallerman, Ola, Xue, James, Yao, Shuyang, Sun, Quan, Szatkiewicz, Jin, Wen, Jia, Huckins, Laura M., Lawler, Alyssa, Keough, Kathleen C., Zheng, Zhili, Zeng, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Li, Yun, Johnson, Jessica, Chen, Jiawen, Paten, Benedict, Reilly, Steven K., Hughes, Graham M., Weng, Zhiping, Pollard, Katherine S., Pfenning, Andreas R., Forsberg Nilsson, Karin, Karlsson, Elinor K., and Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin

Abstract

Thousands of genomic regions have been associated with heritable human diseases, but attempts to elucidate biological mechanisms are impeded by an inability to discern which genomic positions are functionally important. Evolutionary constraint is a powerful predictor of function, agnostic to cell type or disease mechanism. Single-base phyloP scores from 240 mammals identified 3.3% of the human genome as significantly constrained and likely functional. We compared phyloP scores to genome annotation, association studies, copy-number variation, clinical genetics findings, and cancer data. Constrained positions are enriched for variants that explain common disease heritability more than other functional annotations. Our results improve variant annotation but also highlight that the regulatory landscape of the human genome still needs to be further explored and linked to disease.

Published
2023
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12. Evolutionary constraint and innovation across hundreds of placental mammals

Author

Christmas, Matthew, Kaplow, Irene M., Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Hughes, Graham M., Li, Xue, Sullivan, Patrick F., Hindle, Allyson G., Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C., Bianchi, Matteo, Breit, Ana M., Diekhans, Mark, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M., Goodman, Daniel B., Goodman, Linda, Keough, Kathleen C., Kirilenko, Bogdan, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Lawless, Colleen, Lind, Abigail L., Meadows, Jennifer R.S., Moreira, Lucas R., Redlich, Ruby W., Ryan, Louise, Swofford, Ross, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Wagner, Franziska, Wallerman, Ola, Brown, Ashley R., Damas, Joana, Fan, Kaili, Gatesy, John, Grimshaw, Jenna, Johnson, Jeremy, Kozyrev, Sergey V., Lawler, Alyssa J., Marinescu, Voichita, Morrill, Kathleen M., Osmanski, Austin, Paulat, Nicole S., Phan, BaDoi N., Reilly, Steven K., Schäffer, Daniel E., Steiner, Cynthia, Supple, Megan A., Wilder, Aryn P., Wirthlin, Morgan E., Xue, James R., Birren, Bruce W., Gazal, Steven, Hubley, Robert M., Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Meyer, Wynn K., Nweela, Martin, Sabeti, Pardis C., Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian F. A., Springer, Mark S., Teeling, Emma C., Weng, Zhiping, Hiller, Michael, Levesque, Danielle L., Lewin, Harris A., Murphy, William J., Navarro, Arcadi, Paten, Benedict, Pollard, Katherine S., Ray, David A., Ruf, Irina, Ryder, Oliver A., Pfenning, Andreas R., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Christmas, Matthew, Kaplow, Irene M., Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Hughes, Graham M., Li, Xue, Sullivan, Patrick F., Hindle, Allyson G., Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C., Bianchi, Matteo, Breit, Ana M., Diekhans, Mark, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M., Goodman, Daniel B., Goodman, Linda, Keough, Kathleen C., Kirilenko, Bogdan, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Lawless, Colleen, Lind, Abigail L., Meadows, Jennifer R.S., Moreira, Lucas R., Redlich, Ruby W., Ryan, Louise, Swofford, Ross, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Wagner, Franziska, Wallerman, Ola, Brown, Ashley R., Damas, Joana, Fan, Kaili, Gatesy, John, Grimshaw, Jenna, Johnson, Jeremy, Kozyrev, Sergey V., Lawler, Alyssa J., Marinescu, Voichita, Morrill, Kathleen M., Osmanski, Austin, Paulat, Nicole S., Phan, BaDoi N., Reilly, Steven K., Schäffer, Daniel E., Steiner, Cynthia, Supple, Megan A., Wilder, Aryn P., Wirthlin, Morgan E., Xue, James R., Birren, Bruce W., Gazal, Steven, Hubley, Robert M., Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Meyer, Wynn K., Nweela, Martin, Sabeti, Pardis C., Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian F. A., Springer, Mark S., Teeling, Emma C., Weng, Zhiping, Hiller, Michael, Levesque, Danielle L., Lewin, Harris A., Murphy, William J., Navarro, Arcadi, Paten, Benedict, Pollard, Katherine S., Ray, David A., Ruf, Irina, Ryder, Oliver A., Pfenning, Andreas R., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, and Karlsson, Elinor K.

Abstract

Zoonomia is the largest comparative genomics resource for mammals produced to date. By aligning genomes for 240 species, we identify bases that, when mutated, are likely to affect fitness and alter disease risk. At least 332 million bases (similar to 10.7%) in the human genome are unusually conserved across species (evolutionarily constrained) relative to neutrally evolving repeats, and 4552 ultraconserved elements are nearly perfectly conserved. Of 101 million significantly constrained single bases, 80% are outside protein-coding exons and half have no functional annotations in the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) resource. Changes in genes and regulatory elements are associated with exceptional mammalian traits, such as hibernation, that could inform therapeutic development. Earth's vast and imperiled biodiversity offers distinctive power for identifying genetic variants that affect genome function and organismal phenotypes.

Published
2023
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13. The functional and evolutionary impacts of human-specific deletions in conserved elements

Author

Xue, James R., Mackay-Smith, Ava, Mouri, Kousuke, Garcia, Meilin Fernandez, Dong, Michael X., Akers, Jared F., Noble, Mark, Li, Xue, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Noonan, James P., Capellini, Terence D., Brennand, Kristen J., Tewhey, Ryan, Sabeti, Pardis C., Reilly, Steven K., Consortium, Zoonomia, Xue, James R., Mackay-Smith, Ava, Mouri, Kousuke, Garcia, Meilin Fernandez, Dong, Michael X., Akers, Jared F., Noble, Mark, Li, Xue, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Noonan, James P., Capellini, Terence D., Brennand, Kristen J., Tewhey, Ryan, Sabeti, Pardis C., Reilly, Steven K., and Consortium, Zoonomia

Abstract

Conserved genomic sequences disrupted in humans may underlie uniquely human phenotypic traits. We identified and characterized 10,032 human-specific conserved deletions (hCONDELs). These short (average 2.56 base pairs) deletions are enriched for human brain functions across genetic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic datasets. Using massively parallel reporter assays in six cell types, we discovered 800 hCONDELs conferring significant differences in regulatory activity, half of which enhance rather than disrupt regulatory function. We highlight several hCONDELs with putative human-specific effects on brain development, including HDAC5, CPEB4, and PPP2CA. Reverting an hCONDEL to the ancestral sequence alters the expression of LOXL2 and developmental genes involved in myelination and synaptic function. Our data provide a rich resource to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms driving new traits in humans and other species.

Published
2023
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14. The functional and evolutionary impacts of human-specific deletions in conserved elements

Author

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Broad Institute, National Institutes of Health (US), University of Massachusetts, Swedish Medical Research Council, Xue, James R., Mackay-Smith, Ava, Mouri, Kousuke, Fernandez Garcia, Meilin, Dong, Michael X., Akers, Jared F., Noble, Mark, Li, Xue, Zoonomia Consortium, Juan, David, Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs, Muntané, Gerard, Navarro, Arcadi, Serres-Armero, Aitor, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Noonan, James P., Capellini, Terence D., Brennand, Kristen J., Tewhey, Ryan, Sabeti, Pardis C., Reilly, Steven K., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Broad Institute, National Institutes of Health (US), University of Massachusetts, Swedish Medical Research Council, Xue, James R., Mackay-Smith, Ava, Mouri, Kousuke, Fernandez Garcia, Meilin, Dong, Michael X., Akers, Jared F., Noble, Mark, Li, Xue, Zoonomia Consortium, Juan, David, Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs, Muntané, Gerard, Navarro, Arcadi, Serres-Armero, Aitor, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Noonan, James P., Capellini, Terence D., Brennand, Kristen J., Tewhey, Ryan, Sabeti, Pardis C., and Reilly, Steven K.

Abstract

[INTRODUCTION] Deciphering the molecular and genetic changes that differentiate humans from our closest primate relatives is critical for understanding our origins. Although earlier studies have prioritized how newly gained genetic sequences or variations have contributed to evolutionary innovation, the role of sequence loss has been less appreciated. Alterations in evolutionary conserved regions that are enriched for biological function could be particularly more likely to have phenotypic effects. We thus sought to identify and characterize sequences that have been conserved across evolution, but are then surprisingly lost in all humans. These human-specific deletions in conserved regions (hCONDELs) may play an important role in uniquely human traits., [RATIONALE] Sequencing advancements have identified millions of genetic changes between chimpanzee and human genomes; however, the functional impacts of the ~1 to 5% difference between our species is largely unknown. hCONDELs are one class of these predominantly noncoding sequence changes. Although large hCONDELs (>1 kb) have been previously identified, the vast majority of all hCONDELs (95.7%) are small (<20 base pairs) and have not yet been functionally assessed. We adapted massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) to characterize the effects of thousands of these small hCONDELs and uncovered hundreds with functional effects. By understanding the effects of these hCONDELs, we can gain insight into the mechanistic patterns driving evolution in the human genome., [RESULTS] We identified 10,032 hCONDELs by examining conserved regions across diverse vertebrate genomes and overlapping with confidently annotated, human-specific fixed deletions. We found that these hCONDELs are enriched to delete conserved sequences originating from stem amniotes. Overlap with transcriptional, epigenomic, and phenotypic datasets all implicate neuronal and cognitive functional impacts. We characterized these hCONDELs using MPRA in six different human cell types, including induced pluripotent stem cell–derived neural progenitor cells. We found that 800 hCONDELs displayed species-specific regulatory effect effects. Although many hCONDELs perturb transcription factor–binding sites in active enhancers, we estimate that 30% create or improve binding sites, including activators and repressors. Some hCONDELs exhibit molecular functions that affect core neurodevelopmental genes. One hCONDEL removes a single base in an active enhancer in the neurogenesis gene HDAC5, and another deletes six bases in an alternative promoter of PPP2CA, a gene that regulates neuronal signaling. We deeply characterized an hCONDEL in a putative regulatory element of LOXL2, a gene that controls neuronal differentiation. Using genome engineering to reintroduce the conserved chimpanzee sequence into human cells, we confirmed that the human deletion alters transcriptional output of LOXL2. Single-cell RNA sequencing of these cells uncovered a cascade of myelination and synaptic function–related transcriptional changes induced by the hCONDEL., [CONCLUSION] Our identification of hundreds of hCONDELs with functional impacts reveals new molecular changes that may have shaped our unique biological lineage. These hCONDELs display predicted functions in a variety of biological systems but are especially enriched for function in neuronal tissue. Many hCONDELs induced gains of regulatory activity, a surprising discovery given that deletions of conserved bases are commonly thought to abrogate function. Our work provides a paradigm for the characterization of nucleotide changes shaping species-specific biology across humans or other animals.

Published
2023

15. Leveraging base-pair mammalian constraint to understand genetic variation and human disease

Author

Swedish Research Council, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health (US), Gladstone Institutes, National Institute on Drug Abuse (US), University College Dublin, National Human Genome Research Institute (US), National Institutes of Health (US), National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), Juan, David [0000-0003-1912-9667], Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs [0000-0002-5597-3075], Muntané, Gerard [0000-0003-1541-8365], Navarro, Arcadi [0000-0003-2162-8246], Valenzuela, Alejandro [0000-0001-6120-6246], Sullivan, Patrick F., Meadows, Jennifer R. S., Gazal, Steven, Phan, BaDoi N., Li, Xue, Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Bianchi, Matteo, Andrews, Gregory, Sakthikumar, Sharadha, Nordin, Jessika, Roy, Ananya, Christmas, Matthew J., Marinescu, Voichita D., Wang, Chao, Wallerman, Ola, Xue, James, Yao, Shuyang, Sun, Quan, Szatkiewicz, Jin, Wen, Jia, Huckins, Laura M., Lawler, Alyssa, Keough, Kathleen C., Zheng, Zhili, Zeng, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Li, Yun, Johnson, Jessica, Chen, Jiawen, Zoonomia Consortium, Juan, David, Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs, Muntané, Gerard, Navarro, Arcadi, Serres-Armero, Aitor, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Paten, Benedict, Reilly, Steven K., Hughes, Graham M., Weng, Zhiping, Pollard, Katherine S., Pfenning, Andreas R., Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Swedish Research Council, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health (US), Gladstone Institutes, National Institute on Drug Abuse (US), University College Dublin, National Human Genome Research Institute (US), National Institutes of Health (US), National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), Juan, David [0000-0003-1912-9667], Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs [0000-0002-5597-3075], Muntané, Gerard [0000-0003-1541-8365], Navarro, Arcadi [0000-0003-2162-8246], Valenzuela, Alejandro [0000-0001-6120-6246], Sullivan, Patrick F., Meadows, Jennifer R. S., Gazal, Steven, Phan, BaDoi N., Li, Xue, Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Bianchi, Matteo, Andrews, Gregory, Sakthikumar, Sharadha, Nordin, Jessika, Roy, Ananya, Christmas, Matthew J., Marinescu, Voichita D., Wang, Chao, Wallerman, Ola, Xue, James, Yao, Shuyang, Sun, Quan, Szatkiewicz, Jin, Wen, Jia, Huckins, Laura M., Lawler, Alyssa, Keough, Kathleen C., Zheng, Zhili, Zeng, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Li, Yun, Johnson, Jessica, Chen, Jiawen, Zoonomia Consortium, Juan, David, Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs, Muntané, Gerard, Navarro, Arcadi, Serres-Armero, Aitor, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Paten, Benedict, Reilly, Steven K., Hughes, Graham M., Weng, Zhiping, Pollard, Katherine S., Pfenning, Andreas R., Forsberg-Nilsson, Karin, Karlsson, Elinor K., and Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin

Abstract

[INTRODUCTION] Thousands of genetic variants have been associated with human diseases and traits through genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Translating these discoveries into improved therapeutics requires discerning which variants among hundreds of candidates are causally related to disease risk. To date, only a handful of causal variants have been confirmed. Here, we leverage 100 million years of mammalian evolution to address this major challenge., [RATIONALE] We compared genomes from hundreds of mammals and identified bases with unusually few variants (evolutionarily constrained). Constraint is a measure of functional importance that is agnostic to cell type or developmental stage. It can be applied to investigate any heritable disease or trait and is complementary to resources using cell type– and time point–specific functional assays like Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx)., [RESULTS] Using constraint calculated across placental mammals, 3.3% of bases in the human genome are significantly constrained, including 57.6% of coding bases. Most constrained bases (80.7%) are noncoding. Common variants (allele frequency ≥ 5%) and low-frequency variants (0.5% ≤ allele frequency < 5%) are depleted for constrained bases (1.85 versus 3.26% expected by chance, P < 2.2 × 10−308). Pathogenic ClinVar variants are more constrained than benign variants (P < 2.2 × 10−16). The most constrained common variants are more enriched for disease single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)–heritability in 63 independent GWASs. The enrichment of SNP-heritability in constrained regions is greater (7.8-fold) than previously reported in mammals and is even higher in primates (11.1-fold). It exceeds the enrichment of SNP-heritability in nonsynonymous coding variants (7.2-fold) and fine-mapped expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL)–SNPs (4.8-fold). The enrichment peaks near constrained bases, with a log-linear decrease of SNP-heritability enrichment as a function of the distance to a constrained base. Zoonomia constraint scores improve functionally informed fine-mapping. Variants at sites constrained in mammals and primates have greater posterior inclusion probabilities and higher per-SNP contributions. In addition, using both constraint and functional annotations improves polygenic risk score accuracy across a range of traits. Finally, incorporating constraint information into the analysis of noncoding somatic variants in medulloblastomas identifies new candidate driver genes., [CONCLUSION] Genome-wide measures of evolutionary constraint can help discern which variants are functionally important. This information may accelerate the translation of genomic discoveries into the biological, clinical, and therapeutic knowledge that is required to understand and treat human disease.

Published
2023

16. Evolutionary constraint and innovation across hundreds of placental mammals

Author

National Institutes of Health (US), National Science Foundation (US), European Research Council, European Commission, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Science Foundation Ireland, Irish Research Council, Swedish Research Council, Carnegie Mellon University, Roddenberry Foundation, Gladstone Institutes, LOEWE Center for Insect Biotechnology & Bioresources, Robert and Rosabel Osborne Endowment, SFI Research Centre in Applied Geosciences (Ireland), Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, UMaine Institute of Medicine, University College Dublin, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Lehigh University, Valenzuela, Alejandro [0000-0001-6120-6246], Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs [0000-0002-5597-3075], Navarro, Arcadi [0000-0003-2162-8246], Christmas, Matthew J., Kaplow, Irene M., Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Hughes, Graham M., Li, Xue, Sullivan, Patrick F., Hindle, Allyson G., Andrews,Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C., Bianchi, Matteo, Breit, Ana M., Diekhans, Mark, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M., Goodman, Daniel B., Goodman, Linda, Keough, Kathleen C., Kirilenko, Bogdan, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Lawless, Colleen, Lind, Abigail L., Meadows, Jennifer R. S., Moreira, Lucas R., Redlich, Ruby W., Ryan, Louise, Swofford, Ross, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Wagner, Franziska, Wallerman, Ola, Brown, Ashley R., Damas, Joana, Fan, Kaili, Gatesy, John, Grimshaw, Jenna, Johnson, Jeremy, Kozyrev, Sergey V., Lawler, Alyssa J., Marinescu, Voichita D., Morrill, Kathleen M., Osmanski, Austin, Paulat, Nicole S., Phan, BaDoi N., Reilly, Steven K., Schäffer, Daniel E., Steiner, Cynthia, Supple, Megan A., Wilder, Aryn P., Wirthlin, Morgan E., Xue, James R., Zoonomia Consortium, Birren, Bruce W., Gazal, Steven, Hubley, Robert M., Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs, Meyer, Wynn K., Nweeia, Martin, Sabeti, Pardis C., Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian F. A., Springer, Mark S., Teeling, Emma C., Weng, Zhiping, Hiller, Michael, Levesque, Danielle L., Lewin, Harris A., Murphy, William J., Navarro, Arcadi, Paten, Benedict, Pollard, Katherine S., Ray, David A., Ruf, Irina, Ryder, Oliver A., Pfenning , Andreas R., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., National Institutes of Health (US), National Science Foundation (US), European Research Council, European Commission, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Science Foundation Ireland, Irish Research Council, Swedish Research Council, Carnegie Mellon University, Roddenberry Foundation, Gladstone Institutes, LOEWE Center for Insect Biotechnology & Bioresources, Robert and Rosabel Osborne Endowment, SFI Research Centre in Applied Geosciences (Ireland), Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, UMaine Institute of Medicine, University College Dublin, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Lehigh University, Valenzuela, Alejandro [0000-0001-6120-6246], Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs [0000-0002-5597-3075], Navarro, Arcadi [0000-0003-2162-8246], Christmas, Matthew J., Kaplow, Irene M., Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Hughes, Graham M., Li, Xue, Sullivan, Patrick F., Hindle, Allyson G., Andrews,Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C., Bianchi, Matteo, Breit, Ana M., Diekhans, Mark, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M., Goodman, Daniel B., Goodman, Linda, Keough, Kathleen C., Kirilenko, Bogdan, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Lawless, Colleen, Lind, Abigail L., Meadows, Jennifer R. S., Moreira, Lucas R., Redlich, Ruby W., Ryan, Louise, Swofford, Ross, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Wagner, Franziska, Wallerman, Ola, Brown, Ashley R., Damas, Joana, Fan, Kaili, Gatesy, John, Grimshaw, Jenna, Johnson, Jeremy, Kozyrev, Sergey V., Lawler, Alyssa J., Marinescu, Voichita D., Morrill, Kathleen M., Osmanski, Austin, Paulat, Nicole S., Phan, BaDoi N., Reilly, Steven K., Schäffer, Daniel E., Steiner, Cynthia, Supple, Megan A., Wilder, Aryn P., Wirthlin, Morgan E., Xue, James R., Zoonomia Consortium, Birren, Bruce W., Gazal, Steven, Hubley, Robert M., Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Marqués-Bonet, Tomàs, Meyer, Wynn K., Nweeia, Martin, Sabeti, Pardis C., Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian F. A., Springer, Mark S., Teeling, Emma C., Weng, Zhiping, Hiller, Michael, Levesque, Danielle L., Lewin, Harris A., Murphy, William J., Navarro, Arcadi, Paten, Benedict, Pollard, Katherine S., Ray, David A., Ruf, Irina, Ryder, Oliver A., Pfenning , Andreas R., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, and Karlsson, Elinor K.

Abstract

[INTRODUCTION] A major challenge in genomics is discerning which bases among billions alter organismal phenotypes and affect health and disease risk. Evidence of past selective pressure on a base, whether highly conserved or fast evolving, is a marker of functional importance. Bases that are unchanged in all mammals may shape phenotypes that are essential for organismal health. Bases that are evolving quickly in some species, or changed only in species that share an adaptive trait, may shape phenotypes that support survival in specific niches. Identifying bases associated with exceptional capacity for cellular recovery, such as in species that hibernate, could inform therapeutic discovery., [RATIONALE] The power and resolution of evolutionary analyses scale with the number and diversity of species compared. By analyzing genomes for hundreds of placental mammals, we can detect which individual bases in the genome are exceptionally conserved (constrained) and likely to be functionally important in both coding and noncoding regions. By including species that represent all orders of placental mammals and aligning genomes using a method that does not require designating humans as the reference species, we explore unusual traits in other species., [RESULTS] Zoonomia’s mammalian comparative genomics resources are the most comprehensive and statistically well-powered produced to date, with a protein-coding alignment of 427 mammals and a whole-genome alignment of 240 placental mammals representing all orders. We estimate that at least 10.7% of the human genome is evolutionarily conserved relative to neutrally evolving repeats and identify about 101 million significantly constrained single bases (false discovery rate < 0.05). We cataloged 4552 ultraconserved elements at least 20 bases long that are identical in more than 98% of the 240 placental mammals. Many constrained bases have no known function, illustrating the potential for discovery using evolutionary measures. Eighty percent are outside protein-coding exons, and half have no functional annotations in the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) resource. Constrained bases tend to vary less within human populations, which is consistent with purifying selection. Species threatened with extinction have few substitutions at constrained sites, possibly because severely deleterious alleles have been purged from their small populations. By pairing Zoonomia’s genomic resources with phenotype annotations, we find genomic elements associated with phenotypes that differ between species, including olfaction, hibernation, brain size, and vocal learning. We associate genomic traits, such as the number of olfactory receptor genes, with physical phenotypes, such as the number of olfactory turbinals. By comparing hibernators and nonhibernators, we implicate genes involved in mitochondrial disorders, protection against heat stress, and longevity in this physiologically intriguing phenotype. Using a machine learning–based approach that predicts tissue-specific cis-regulatory activity in hundreds of species using data from just a few, we associate changes in noncoding sequence with traits for which humans are exceptional: brain size and vocal learning., [CONCLUSION] Large-scale comparative genomics opens new opportunities to explore how genomes evolved as mammals adapted to a wide range of ecological niches and to discover what is shared across species and what is distinctively human. High-quality data for consistently defined phenotypes are necessary to realize this potential. Through partnerships with researchers in other fields, comparative genomics can address questions in human health and basic biology while guiding efforts to protect the biodiversity that is essential to these discoveries.

Published
2023

17. Evolutionary constraint and innovation across hundreds of placental mammals

Author

Christmas, Matthew J., Kaplow, Irene M., Genereux, Diane P., Dong, Michael X., Hughes, Graham M., Li, Xue, Sullivan, Patrick F., Hindle, Allyson G., Andrews, Gregory, Armstrong, Joel C., Bianchi, Matteo, Breit, Ana M., Diekhans, Mark, Fanter, Cornelia, Foley, Nicole M., Goodman, Daniel B., Goodman, Linda, Keough, Kathleen C., Kirilenko, Bogdan, Kowalczyk, Amanda, Lawless, Colleen, Lind, Abigail L., Meadows, Jennifer R. S., Moreira, Lucas R., Redlich, Ruby W., Ryan, Louise, Swofford, Ross, Valenzuela, Alejandro, Wagner, Franziska, Wallerman, Ola, Brown, Ashley R., Damas, Joana, Fan, Kaili, Gatesy, John, Grimshaw, Jenna, Johnson, Jeremy, Kozyrev, Sergey V., Lawler, Alyssa J., Marinescu, Voichita D., Morrill, Kathleen M., Osmanski, Austin, Paulat, Nicole S., Phan, BaDoi N., Reilly, Steven K., Schäffer, Daniel E., Steiner, Cynthia, Supple, Megan A., Wilder, Aryn P., Wirthlin, Morgan E., Xue, James R., Birren, Bruce W., Gazal, Steven, Hubley, Robert M., Koepfli, Klaus-Peter, Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Meyer, Wynn K., Nweeia, Martin, Sabeti, Pardis C., Shapiro, Beth, Smit, Arian F. A., Springer, Mark S., Teeling, Emma C., Weng, Zhiping, Hiller, Michael, Levesque, Danielle L., Lewin, Harris A., Murphy, William J., Navarro, Arcadi, Paten, Benedict, Pollard, Katherine S., Ray, David A., Ruf, Irina, Ryder, Oliver A., Pfenning, Andreas R., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, and Karlsson, Elinor K.

Subjects
Article
Abstract

Zoonomia is the largest comparative genomics resource for mammals produced to date. By aligning genomes for 240 species, we identify bases that, when mutated, are likely to affect fitness and alter disease risk. At least 332 million bases (~10.7%) in the human genome are unusually conserved across species (evolutionarily constrained) relative to neutrally evolving repeats, and 4552 ultraconserved elements are nearly perfectly conserved. Of 101 million significantly constrained single bases, 80% are outside protein-coding exons and half have no functional annotations in the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) resource. Changes in genes and regulatory elements are associated with exceptional mammalian traits, such as hibernation, that could inform therapeutic development. Earth’s vast and imperiled biodiversity offers distinctive power for identifying genetic variants that affect genome function and organismal phenotypes.

Published
2023

19. Vocal learning-associated convergent evolution in mammalian proteins and regulatory elements.

Author

Wirthlin ME, Schmid TA, Elie JE, Zhang X, Kowalczyk A, Redlich R, Shvareva VA, Rakuljic A, Ji MB, Bhat NS, Kaplow IM, Schäffer DE, Lawler AJ, Wang AZ, Phan BN, Annaldasula S, Brown AR, Lu T, Lim BK, Azim E, Clark NL, Meyer WK, Pond SLK, Chikina M, Yartsev MM, Pfenning AR, Andrews G, Armstrong JC, Bianchi M, Birren BW, Bredemeyer KR, Breit AM, Christmas MJ, Clawson H, Damas J, Di Palma F, Diekhans M, Dong MX, Eizirik E, Fan K, Fanter C, Foley NM, Forsberg-Nilsson K, Garcia CJ, Gatesy J, Gazal S, Genereux DP, Goodman L, Grimshaw J, Halsey MK, Harris AJ, Hickey G, Hiller M, Hindle AG, Hubley RM, Hughes GM, Johnson J, Juan D, Kaplow IM, Karlsson EK, Keough KC, Kirilenko B, Koepfli KP, Korstian JM, Kowalczyk A, Kozyrev SV, Lawler AJ, Lawless C, Lehmann T, Levesque DL, Lewin HA, Li X, Lind A, Lindblad-Toh K, Mackay-Smith A, Marinescu VD, Marques-Bonet T, Mason VC, Meadows JRS, Meyer WK, Moore JE, Moreira LR, Moreno-Santillan DD, Morrill KM, Muntané G, Murphy WJ, Navarro A, Nweeia M, Ortmann S, Osmanski A, Paten B, Paulat NS, Pfenning AR, Phan BN, Pollard KS, Pratt HE, Ray DA, Reilly SK, Rosen JR, Ruf I, Ryan L, Ryder OA, Sabeti PC, Schäffer DE, Serres A, Shapiro B, Smit AFA, Springer M, Srinivasan C, Steiner C, Storer JM, Sullivan KAM, Sullivan PF, Sundström E, Supple MA, Swofford R, Talbot JE, Teeling E, Turner-Maier J, Valenzuela A, Wagner F, Wallerman O, Wang C, Wang J, Weng Z, Wilder AP, Wirthlin ME, Xue JR, and Zhang X

Subjects
Animals, Chiroptera genetics, Chiroptera physiology, Chromatin metabolism, Larynx physiology, Epigenesis, Genetic, Genome, Amino Acid Sequence, Machine Learning, Vocalization, Animal physiology, Motor Cortex cytology, Motor Cortex physiology, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Motor Neurons physiology, Gene Expression Regulation, Evolution, Molecular, Proteins genetics, Proteins metabolism, Eutheria genetics, Eutheria physiology
Abstract

Vocal production learning ("vocal learning") is a convergently evolved trait in vertebrates. To identify brain genomic elements associated with mammalian vocal learning, we integrated genomic, anatomical, and neurophysiological data from the Egyptian fruit bat ( Rousettus aegyptiacus ) with analyses of the genomes of 215 placental mammals. First, we identified a set of proteins evolving more slowly in vocal learners. Then, we discovered a vocal motor cortical region in the Egyptian fruit bat, an emergent vocal learner, and leveraged that knowledge to identify active cis-regulatory elements in the motor cortex of vocal learners. Machine learning methods applied to motor cortex open chromatin revealed 50 enhancers robustly associated with vocal learning whose activity tended to be lower in vocal learners. Our research implicates convergent losses of motor cortex regulatory elements in mammalian vocal learning evolution.

Published
2024
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20. Leveraging Base Pair Mammalian Constraint to Understand Genetic Variation and Human Disease.

Author

Sullivan PF, Meadows JRS, Gazal S, Phan BN, Li X, Genereux DP, Dong MX, Bianchi M, Andrews G, Sakthikumar S, Nordin J, Roy A, Christmas MJ, Marinescu VD, Wallerman O, Xue JR, Li Y, Yao S, Sun Q, Szatkiewicz J, Wen J, Huckins LM, Lawler AJ, Keough KC, Zheng Z, Zeng J, Wray NR, Johnson J, Chen J, Paten B, Reilly SK, Hughes GM, Weng Z, Pollard KS, Pfenning AR, Forsberg-Nilsson K, Karlsson EK, and Lindblad-Toh K

Abstract

Although thousands of genomic regions have been associated with heritable human diseases, attempts to elucidate biological mechanisms are impeded by a general inability to discern which genomic positions are functionally important. Evolutionary constraint is a powerful predictor of function that is agnostic to cell type or disease mechanism. Here, single base phyloP scores from the whole genome alignment of 240 placental mammals identified 3.5% of the human genome as significantly constrained, and likely functional. We compared these scores to large-scale genome annotation, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), copy number variation, clinical genetics findings, and cancer data sets. Evolutionarily constrained positions are enriched for variants explaining common disease heritability (more than any other functional annotation). Our results improve variant annotation but also highlight that the regulatory landscape of the human genome still needs to be further explored and linked to disease.

Published
2023
Full Text
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