A genetic linkage map of the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus)

Abstract

The spectacular progress in genomics increasingly highlights the importance of comparative biology in biomedical research. In particular, nonhuman primates, as model systems, provide a crucial intermediate between humans and mice. The close similarities between humans and other primates are stimulating primate studies in virtually every area of biomedical research, including development, anatomy, physiology, immunology, and behavior. The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) is an important model for studying human diseases and complex traits, especially behavior. We have developed a vervet genetic linkage map to enable mapping complex traits in this model organism and facilitate comparative genomic analysis between vervet and other primates. Here we report construction of an initial genetic map built with about 360 human orthologous short tandem repeats (STRs) that were genotyped in 434 members of an extended vervet pedigree. The map includes 226 markers mapped in a unique order with a resolution of 9.8 Kosambi centimorgans (cM) in the vervet monkey genome, and with a total length (including all 360 markers) of 2726 cM. At least one complex and 11 simple rearrangements in marker order distinguish vervet chromosomes from human homologs. While inversions and insertions can explain a similar number of changes in marker order between vervet and rhesus homologs, mostly inversions are observed when vervet chromosome organization is compared to that in human and chimpanzee. Our results support the notion that large inversions played a less prominent role in the evolution within the group of the Old World monkeys compared to the human and chimpanzee lineages.

Standardized Full-Field Electroretinography in the Green Monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus)

“…The genome of Green Monkeys has 90% parity with the human genome, which lends support to its use to model a range of behavioral and non-behavioral pathologic disorders in human [5], [6]. In fact, Green Monkeys are used as a model organism for the study of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease, substance abuse, attention deficit disorder, alcoholism, reproduction, tissue regeneration and other conditions [5], [7], [8], [9].…”

The genome of the vervet (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus)

“…1). The vervet genome differs from most other primate genomes in its higher chromosome number (2n = 60), which mainly reflects chromosome breakages (Finelli et al 1999;Jasinska et al 2007). Seven chromosome fission events resulted in 29 vervet autosomes, compared to 21 or 22 in most other catarrhines (Stanyon et al 2012).…”

A quantitative trait locus for variation in dopamine metabolism mapped in a primate model using reference sequences from related species

“…Human STR markers genotyped in the vervet pedigree had previously been placed in a scaffold genetic map (6). In these STR data, 455 of the 673 vervets are genotyped for at least one marker, and in the SNP data, 367 of the 673 vervets are genotyped.…”

“…Given the significant heritability estimates for MA metabolites in the VRC, we undertook a genome scan to identify QTL for these metabolites, using 324 markers from the vervet scaffold autosomal genetic map (6). Two-point analysis using the quantitative trait variance component linkage analysis program SOLAR (35) revealed suggestive linkage of HVA levels to two markers that are separated from one another by Ϸ13 cM (and ordered with odds of Ͼ1,000:1) on vervet chromosome 9p (Fig.…”

“…The limited DNA sequence divergence between higher primates has permitted the generation of genome-wide genetic linkage maps in widely investigated Old World monkey (OWM) species, including rhesus macaques, baboons, and vervets, based on the adaptation of human short tandem repeat (STR) sequences (3)(4)(5)(6). The availability of these maps has in turn spurred genetic mapping studies of complex traits in these OWMs.…”