猴子与人类具有十分重要的亲缘关系，二者在基因水平和生理水平上较为相近，常被当作灵长类动物模型应用于生物医药及**研究，其中又尤以猕猴的使用*为广泛。据悉，每年全世界会有数以千计的猕猴被用于临床前研究。猕猴是亚洲和北非地区*常见的一类猴，常被用于各类医学临床试验，如发病机理研究，**筛选，**用量以及**的耐受和****反应测试等。通过对猴基因组水平的研究，可快速，方便的了解猴的遗传学背景，为生物医药及**研究中遇到的问题提供新线索及思路。
在这篇文章中，研究人员高通量的新一代测序和全基因组鸟枪法策略获得了一只雌性食蟹猴以及一只雌性中国恒河猴的基因组序列。测序深度分别达到各自基因组54倍和47倍的覆盖率。通过与外国已测序的印度猕猴基因组序列的比较，他们共发现了2000多万个单核苷酸多态性位点（SNP），以及大量的结构变异包括插入、缺失、基因重排，表明三种猕猴属动物存在显著的遗传异质性。基因组结构变异统计发现三种猕猴属动物基因均显示出正选择迹象。遗传趋势分析证实食蟹猴基因组中存在着基因渗入现象，表明与恒河猴间发生了种间杂交。
此外，研究人员还证实这些猕猴基因组**基因与人类基因组序列具有高度的相似性，这一结果表明以猕猴为对象的生物学和临床前医学研究将为人类医学研究提供具有重要价值的信息。
来自中山大学的颜光美教授、广东华南新药创制中心王小宁教授和深圳华大基因研究所的汪建教授为这篇文章的共同通讯作者。这一项目获得了中国自然科学基金、深圳市政府、国家重点基础研究发展计划和国家重大科技专项“重大新药创制”等资金资助。
推荐原文摘要：
Genome sequencing and comparison of two nonhuman primate animal models, the cynomolgus and Chinese rhesus macaques
The nonhuman primates most commonly used in medical research are from the genus Macaca1. To better understand the genetic differences between these animal models, we present high-quality draft genome sequences from two macaque species, the cynomolgus/crab-eating macaque and the Chinese rhesus macaque. Comparison with the previously sequenced Indian rhesus macaque reveals that all three macaques maintain abundant genetic heterogeneity, including millions of single-nucleotide substitutions and many insertions, deletions and gross chromosomal rearrangements. By assessing genetic regions with reduced variability, we identify genes in each macaque species that may have experienced positive selection. Genetic divergence patterns suggest that the cynomolgus macaque genome has been shaped by introgression after hybridization with the Chinese rhesus macaque. Macaque genes display a high degree of sequence similarity with human disease gene ortholog and drug targets. However, we identify several putatively dysfunctional genetic differences between the three macaque species, which may explain functional differences between them previously observed in clinical studies.