Comparative genomics reveals the hybrid origin of a macaque group

• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add3580
• Publication Date: 2023-06-01T17:59:32Z
• Authors: Bao-Lin Zhang; Wu Chen; Zefu Wang; Wei Pang; Meng-Ting Luo; Sheng Wang; Yong Shao; Wen-Qiang He; Yuan Deng; Long Zhou; Jiawei Chen; Min-Min Yang; Yajiang Wu; Lu Wang; Hugo Fernández-Be...; Sandra Molloy; Hélène Meunier; Fanélie Wanert; Lukas Kuderna; Tomas Marques-Bonet; Christian Roos; Xiao-Guang Qi; Ming Li; Zhijin Liu; Mikkel Heide Schi...; David N. Cooper; Jianquan Liu; Yong-Tang Zheng; Guojie Zhang; Dong-Dong Wu
• Keywords: Genome; 590; Animals; Macaca; Hybridization, Genetic; Biomedicine and Life Sciences; Genomics; Phylogeny

Although species can arise through hybridization, compelling evidence for hybrid speciation has been reported only rarely in animals. Here, we present phylogenomic analyses on genomes from 12 macaque species and show that the fascicularis group originated from an ancient hybridization between the sinica and silenus groups ~3.45 to 3.56 million years ago. The X chromosomes and low-recombination regions exhibited equal contributions from each parental lineage, suggesting that they were less affected by subsequent backcrossing and hence could have played an important role in maintaining hybrid integrity. We identified many reproduction-associated genes that could have contributed to the development of the mixed sexual phenotypes characteristic of the fascicularis group. The phylogeny within the silenus group was also resolved, and functional experimentation confirmed that all extant Western silenus species are susceptible to HIV-1 infection. Our study provides novel insights into macaque evolution and reveals a hybrid speciation event that has occurred only very rarely in primates.