Researchers Find Amur Tiger Genome is 95% Similar to Genome of Domestic Cat
Posted on September 20, 2013
Researchers from South Korea's Personal Genomics Institute and BGI say they have mapped the genome of the Amur tiger. The Amur tiger genome say the genome contains 20,226 protein-coding genes and 2,935 non-coding RNAs. They compared it to the genomes of the big cats including the white Bengal tiger, lions, and snow leopards. The researchers also found that the Amur tiger genome showed more than 95 percent similarity to the genome of domestic cat. A diagram here shows synteny blocks between tiger and cat genomes.
Researchers also sequenced the genomes of other Panthera-a white Bengal tiger, an African lion, a white African lion, and a snow leopard. BBC News the domestic cat genome was the only cat to have its DNA mapped until now.
Here are some of the team's findings:
- The team found that the snow leopard has unique amino-acid changes in the EGLN1 and EPAS1 genes that may have contributed to snow leopard's acquisition of an alpine, high altitude ecological niche
- The researchers discovered Panthera lineage-specific and felid-specific amino acid changes that may affect the metabolism pathways
- The team revealed the evidence that the genes related to muscle strength as well as energy metabolism and sensory nerves, including olfactory receptor activity and visual perception, appeared to be undergoing rapid evolution in the tiger
- Researchers found the genetic diversity of tiger and lion were similar to that of human
- Researchers found that white lions contain a variant in the TYR gene
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