Variation in the molecular clock of primates

Events in primate evolution are often dated by assuming a constant rate of substitution per unit time, but the validity of this assumption remains unclear. Among mammals, it is well known that there exists substantial variation in yearly substitution rates. Such variation is to be expected from diff...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 113; no. 38; pp. 10607 - 10612
Main Authors: Moorjani, Priya, Amorim, Carlos Eduardo G, Arndt, Peter F, Przeworski, Molly
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 20.09.2016
Subjects:
ISSN:1091-6490
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract Events in primate evolution are often dated by assuming a constant rate of substitution per unit time, but the validity of this assumption remains unclear. Among mammals, it is well known that there exists substantial variation in yearly substitution rates. Such variation is to be expected from differences in life history traits, suggesting it should also be found among primates. Motivated by these considerations, we analyze whole genomes from 10 primate species, including Old World Monkeys (OWMs), New World Monkeys (NWMs), and apes, focusing on putatively neutral autosomal sites and controlling for possible effects of biased gene conversion and methylation at CpG sites. We find that substitution rates are up to 64% higher in lineages leading from the hominoid-NWM ancestor to NWMs than to apes. Within apes, rates are ∼2% higher in chimpanzees and ∼7% higher in the gorilla than in humans. Substitution types subject to biased gene conversion show no more variation among species than those not subject to it. Not all mutation types behave similarly, however; in particular, transitions at CpG sites exhibit a more clocklike behavior than do other types, presumably because of their nonreplicative origin. Thus, not only the total rate, but also the mutational spectrum, varies among primates. This finding suggests that events in primate evolution are most reliably dated using CpG transitions. Taking this approach, we estimate the human and chimpanzee divergence time is 12.1 million years,​ and the human and gorilla divergence time is 15.1 million years​.
AbstractList Events in primate evolution are often dated by assuming a constant rate of substitution per unit time, but the validity of this assumption remains unclear. Among mammals, it is well known that there exists substantial variation in yearly substitution rates. Such variation is to be expected from differences in life history traits, suggesting it should also be found among primates. Motivated by these considerations, we analyze whole genomes from 10 primate species, including Old World Monkeys (OWMs), New World Monkeys (NWMs), and apes, focusing on putatively neutral autosomal sites and controlling for possible effects of biased gene conversion and methylation at CpG sites. We find that substitution rates are up to 64% higher in lineages leading from the hominoid-NWM ancestor to NWMs than to apes. Within apes, rates are ∼2% higher in chimpanzees and ∼7% higher in the gorilla than in humans. Substitution types subject to biased gene conversion show no more variation among species than those not subject to it. Not all mutation types behave similarly, however; in particular, transitions at CpG sites exhibit a more clocklike behavior than do other types, presumably because of their nonreplicative origin. Thus, not only the total rate, but also the mutational spectrum, varies among primates. This finding suggests that events in primate evolution are most reliably dated using CpG transitions. Taking this approach, we estimate the human and chimpanzee divergence time is 12.1 million years,​ and the human and gorilla divergence time is 15.1 million years​.
Author Moorjani, Priya
Arndt, Peter F
Amorim, Carlos Eduardo G
Przeworski, Molly
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Priya
  surname: Moorjani
  fullname: Moorjani, Priya
  email: pm2730@columbia.edu, mp3284@columbia.edu
  organization: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142; pm2730@columbia.edu mp3284@columbia.edu
– sequence: 2
  givenname: Carlos Eduardo G
  surname: Amorim
  fullname: Amorim, Carlos Eduardo G
  organization: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
– sequence: 3
  givenname: Peter F
  surname: Arndt
  fullname: Arndt, Peter F
  organization: Department of Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195 Berlin, Germany
– sequence: 4
  givenname: Molly
  surname: Przeworski
  fullname: Przeworski, Molly
  email: pm2730@columbia.edu, mp3284@columbia.edu
  organization: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027; Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 pm2730@columbia.edu mp3284@columbia.edu
BackLink https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27601674$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed
BookMark eNo1jztPwzAURi0Eom1gZkMeGUi5fjsjqnhJlViANbKTaxFI7BInA_-eCsp0lk9H51uR45giEnLBYM3AiJtddHnNNIAwkjFxRJYMKlZqWcGCrHL-AIBKWTglC240MG3kkly_ubFzU5ci7SKd3pEOqcdm7t1Imz41nzQFuhu7wU2Yz8hJcH3G8wML8np_97J5LLfPD0-b223plLZTybVA66XgRhiDknMpVfBcWYleG-GF4wErIWUIXOkm-IpZEC1i66yyLeMFufrz7sb0NWOe6qHLDfa9i5jmXDO7d2ot9ijI5WE6-wHb-jd1_K7_H_IfXmFROw
CitedBy_id crossref_primary_10_1111_jse_13147
crossref_primary_10_1002_ajp_23028
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_crpv_2016_11_005
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_2200638119
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41467_024_51150_x
crossref_primary_10_7554_eLife_27605
crossref_primary_10_1093_genetics_iyab161
crossref_primary_10_1126_science_abn6919
crossref_primary_10_1134_S1022795419050144
crossref_primary_10_1002_ajpa_23750
crossref_primary_10_1093_nargab_lqab079
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pone_0235610
crossref_primary_10_1002_evan_22031
crossref_primary_10_3390_epigenomes6040033
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_gde_2020_05_024
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_gde_2020_05_028
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41576_022_00568_4
crossref_primary_10_1093_molbev_msz283
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_tig_2020_06_002
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pbio_3000838
crossref_primary_10_1093_zoolinnean_zlaa046
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41467_021_25524_4
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pgen_1010836
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_banm_2019_12_018
crossref_primary_10_1093_genetics_iyaf074
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_ajhg_2018_05_009
crossref_primary_10_1093_cercor_bhaa327
crossref_primary_10_1093_genetics_iyac087
crossref_primary_10_1126_science_abb4363
crossref_primary_10_3390_life11050435
crossref_primary_10_1093_molbev_msae064
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_compbiolchem_2024_108107
crossref_primary_10_1093_molbev_msaf034
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_1814203116
crossref_primary_10_7554_eLife_80216
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_1901259116
crossref_primary_10_1093_gigascience_giab029
crossref_primary_10_1007_s00438_022_01954_7
crossref_primary_10_3389_fncir_2021_787164
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jhevol_2019_102706
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41586_020_2225_9
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_quascirev_2022_107722
crossref_primary_10_1177_1176934319855988
crossref_primary_10_1134_S2079086422050024
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_cub_2018_10_035
crossref_primary_10_1126_science_aar6343
crossref_primary_10_1093_brain_awad389
crossref_primary_10_1093_molbev_msz026
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_tins_2020_04_008
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pbio_2000744
crossref_primary_10_7554_eLife_24284
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41576_020_00305_9
crossref_primary_10_1093_nar_gkac779
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jhevol_2024_103547
crossref_primary_10_1098_rsos_180382
crossref_primary_10_3390_ani11082368
crossref_primary_10_1002_ar_23743
crossref_primary_10_1093_molbev_msz159
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jmb_2019_09_002
crossref_primary_10_1111_evo_14036
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41467_020_16296_4
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41437_021_00446_5
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41586_023_05752_y
crossref_primary_10_1134_S1995425524700173
crossref_primary_10_1002_ajpa_24947
crossref_primary_10_1093_molbev_msad213
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_bbrc_2018_07_066
crossref_primary_10_1007_s00204_024_03930_z
crossref_primary_10_1007_s00239_020_09971_z
crossref_primary_10_1007_s40806_021_00289_7
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_2301674120
crossref_primary_10_1002_ajpa_23710
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41588_020_00755_1
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jhevol_2017_05_012
crossref_primary_10_1038_nature24018
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41581_021_00483_7
crossref_primary_10_1111_mec_16007
crossref_primary_10_1111_febs_15885
crossref_primary_10_1093_ve_vead058
crossref_primary_10_1093_g3journal_jkaf019
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_2001749117
crossref_primary_10_1093_g3journal_jkab333
crossref_primary_10_3389_fpubh_2019_00305
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_2118740119
crossref_primary_10_1080_20555563_2019_1606668
crossref_primary_10_7554_eLife_80008
crossref_primary_10_1093_hmg_ddad028
crossref_primary_10_3389_fpsyg_2023_1233667
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pgen_1009495
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_evolhumbehav_2025_106685
crossref_primary_10_1007_s12110_024_09477_3
crossref_primary_10_3390_ijms25105297
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41598_021_04621_w
crossref_primary_10_3390_rel16060694
crossref_primary_10_1007_s00239_024_10225_5
crossref_primary_10_1111_gtc_13194
crossref_primary_10_1534_g3_118_200462
crossref_primary_10_1242_jeb_174425
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41588_025_02317_9
crossref_primary_10_7717_peerj_11573
crossref_primary_10_1101_gr_225896_117
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41559_022_01974_x
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pone_0328504
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41559_018_0778_x
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_neubiorev_2023_105240
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41598_017_11875_w
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jhevol_2018_09_006
crossref_primary_10_1186_s12862_020_01607_6
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_meegid_2020_104364
crossref_primary_10_1002_ajpa_24632
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_leaqua_2018_09_001
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_2116182119
crossref_primary_10_1002_evan_21713
crossref_primary_10_7554_eLife_81188
crossref_primary_10_1007_s11357_025_01785_5
crossref_primary_10_3389_feart_2023_1166243
crossref_primary_10_3390_pathogens9090750
crossref_primary_10_1042_BST20180186
crossref_primary_10_1158_0008_5472_CAN_19_1696
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_jhevol_2022_103309
crossref_primary_10_1016_j_cub_2018_08_050
crossref_primary_10_1111_jeb_13295
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pbio_3002678
crossref_primary_10_1002_cam4_2011
crossref_primary_10_1038_s41576_021_00376_2
crossref_primary_10_1073_pnas_1713611115
crossref_primary_10_1111_evo_13383
crossref_primary_10_3389_fevo_2025_1473794
crossref_primary_10_1093_biolinnean_blz140
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pgen_1011661
crossref_primary_10_1186_s12870_023_04165_3
crossref_primary_10_1371_journal_pgen_1006915
crossref_primary_10_4000_primatologie_2787
ContentType Journal Article
DBID CGR
CUY
CVF
ECM
EIF
NPM
7U8
7X8
C1K
JXQ
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1600374113
DatabaseName Medline
MEDLINE
MEDLINE (Ovid)
MEDLINE
MEDLINE
PubMed
TOXLINE
MEDLINE - Academic
Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
Toxline
DatabaseTitle MEDLINE
Medline Complete
MEDLINE with Full Text
PubMed
MEDLINE (Ovid)
TOXLINE
MEDLINE - Academic
Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
DatabaseTitleList MEDLINE
TOXLINE
Database_xml – sequence: 1
  dbid: NPM
  name: PubMed
  url: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
  sourceTypes: Index Database
– sequence: 2
  dbid: 7X8
  name: MEDLINE - Academic
  url: https://search.proquest.com/medline
  sourceTypes: Aggregation Database
DeliveryMethod no_fulltext_linktorsrc
Discipline Sciences (General)
EISSN 1091-6490
EndPage 10612
ExternalDocumentID 27601674
Genre Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
GrantInformation_xml – fundername: NIGMS NIH HHS
  grantid: R01 GM122975
– fundername: NIH HHS
  grantid: S10 OD021764
– fundername: NIH HHS
  grantid: S10 OD012351
– fundername: NIGMS NIH HHS
  grantid: F32 GM115006
GroupedDBID ---
-DZ
-~X
.55
0R~
123
29P
2AX
2FS
2WC
4.4
53G
5RE
5VS
85S
AACGO
AAFWJ
AANCE
ABBHK
ABOCM
ABPLY
ABPPZ
ABTLG
ABXSQ
ABZEH
ACGOD
ACHIC
ACIWK
ACNCT
ACPRK
ADULT
AENEX
AEUPB
AEXZC
AFFNX
AFOSN
AFRAH
ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS
AQVQM
BKOMP
CGR
CS3
CUY
CVF
D0L
DCCCD
DIK
DOOOF
DU5
E3Z
EBS
ECM
EIF
EJD
F5P
FRP
GX1
H13
HH5
HYE
IPSME
JAAYA
JBMMH
JENOY
JHFFW
JKQEH
JLS
JLXEF
JPM
JSG
JSODD
JST
KQ8
L7B
LU7
N9A
NPM
N~3
O9-
OK1
PNE
PQQKQ
R.V
RHF
RHI
RNA
RNS
RPM
RXW
SA0
SJN
TAE
TN5
UKR
VQA
W8F
WH7
WOQ
WOW
X7M
XSW
Y6R
YBH
YIF
YIN
YKV
YSK
ZCA
~02
~KM
7U8
7X8
ADQXQ
C1K
JXQ
ID FETCH-LOGICAL-a568t-263e8b4327377e422445fb2584eb673b3a2fe9344ff256cfb91803deeda858d12
IEDL.DBID 7X8
ISICitedReferencesCount 154
ISICitedReferencesURI http://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=Summon&SrcAuth=ProQuest&DestLinkType=CitingArticles&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=000383622600049&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
IngestDate Thu Sep 04 17:33:50 EDT 2025
Wed Feb 19 02:31:50 EST 2025
IsDoiOpenAccess false
IsOpenAccess true
IsPeerReviewed true
IsScholarly true
Issue 38
Keywords CpG transition rate
human–ape divergence time
mutation rate
molecular clock
primate evolution
Language English
LinkModel DirectLink
MergedId FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-a568t-263e8b4327377e422445fb2584eb673b3a2fe9344ff256cfb91803deeda858d12
Notes ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
OpenAccessLink https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1600374113
PMID 27601674
PQID 1822466382
PQPubID 23479
PageCount 6
ParticipantIDs proquest_miscellaneous_1822466382
pubmed_primary_27601674
PublicationCentury 2000
PublicationDate 2016-09-20
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 2016-09-20
PublicationDate_xml – month: 09
  year: 2016
  text: 2016-09-20
  day: 20
PublicationDecade 2010
PublicationPlace United States
PublicationPlace_xml – name: United States
PublicationTitle Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS
PublicationTitleAlternate Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PublicationYear 2016
SSID ssj0009580
Score 2.5759861
Snippet Events in primate evolution are often dated by assuming a constant rate of substitution per unit time, but the validity of this assumption remains unclear....
SourceID proquest
pubmed
SourceType Aggregation Database
Index Database
StartPage 10607
SubjectTerms Amino Acid Substitution - genetics
Animals
Biological Evolution
DNA Methylation - genetics
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Conversion - genetics
Genetic Variation
Genome - genetics
Gorilla gorilla - genetics
Humans
Pan troglodytes - genetics
Primates - genetics
Title Variation in the molecular clock of primates
URI https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27601674
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1822466382
Volume 113
WOSCitedRecordID wos000383622600049&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
hasFullText
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
link http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpV1NS8QwEA3qevCirp_rFxE8KFjcZJImPYmIixeXPajsraRNAovYVrv6-510W_QiCF56K4R5mczLZHiPkDOpnNDCsgjAqAgzUUaJcDKyTAGA495w25hNqPFYT6fJpG241e1YZXcmNge1LfPQI79iYdwRy6Pm19VbFFyjwutqa6GxTHqAVCYkpprqH6K7etjJ-Si4qgpTh25KkFxhwc_gN07Z1JbRxn9XtUnWW1ZJbxbboE-WXLFF-m3e1vS8FZe-2CaXz3g5btCgs4Ii-6OvnUEuzbGwvdDS0ypIUCAH3SFPo7vH2_uodUyIjIz1POIxOJ0JQE6iEARcm5A-40gyXBYryMBw7xIQwnukOrnPEqaHYLFOGi21ZXyXrBRl4fYJzcE4SGJhES4Ez2UGhJfGqkTJXDM2IKddRFLckeGZwRSu_KjT75gMyN4irGm1kM5IeRjBiZU4-MPfh2QN2UkchjP48Ij0POajOyar-ed8Vr-fNFDjdzx5-AINvLN4
linkProvider ProQuest
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Variation+in+the+molecular+clock+of+primates&rft.jtitle=Proceedings+of+the+National+Academy+of+Sciences+-+PNAS&rft.au=Moorjani%2C+Priya&rft.au=Amorim%2C+Carlos+Eduardo+G&rft.au=Arndt%2C+Peter+F&rft.au=Przeworski%2C+Molly&rft.date=2016-09-20&rft.eissn=1091-6490&rft.volume=113&rft.issue=38&rft.spage=10607&rft_id=info:doi/10.1073%2Fpnas.1600374113&rft_id=info%3Apmid%2F27601674&rft_id=info%3Apmid%2F27601674&rft.externalDocID=27601674