| population differences in dna sequence variation and linkage disequilibrium at the pon1 gene. | polymorphisms of the promoter region (-108c/t) and the coding region (192q/r) of the paraoxonase 1 gene (pon1) showed differences in association with cardiovascular disease risk in various populations. to characterize the genetic variation underlying these important polymorphisms, we examined dna sequence variation both in a 1.3-kb promoter region 16.5 kb from codon 192, and in a 1.7-kb region centered on the 192q/r polymorphic site of the coding region of pon1, in 30 africans, 30 europeans and ... | 2004 | 15008790 |
| human-specific amino acid changes found in 103 protein-coding genes. | we humans have many characteristics that are different from those of the great apes. these human-specific characters must have arisen through mutations accumulated in the genome of our direct ancestor after the divergence of the last common ancestor with chimpanzee. gene trees of human and great apes are necessary for extracting these human-specific genetic changes. we conducted a systematic analysis of 103 protein-coding genes for human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. nucleotide sequences ... | 2004 | 15014171 |
| evolution of primate theta-defensins: a serpentine path to a sweet tooth. | retrocyclins (ancestral human theta-defensins) are cyclic antimicrobial octadecapeptides that interfere with viral uptake and protect human cells from infection by t- and m-tropic strains of hiv-1 in vitro. as are other theta-defensins, retrocyclins are lectins that bind gp120, cd4, and galactosylceramide-all of which are implicated in hiv-1 uptake. although theta-defensin mrna transcripts are present in human bone marrow, spleen, thymus, testis, and skeletal muscle, a premature stop codon abort ... | 2003 | 15019196 |
| accelerated evolution of the aspm gene controlling brain size begins prior to human brain expansion. | primary microcephaly (mcph) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by global reduction in cerebral cortical volume. the microcephalic brain has a volume comparable to that of early hominids, raising the possibility that some mcph genes may have been evolutionary targets in the expansion of the cerebral cortex in mammals and especially primates. mutations in aspm, which encodes the human homologue of a fly protein essential for spindle function, are the most common known cause of mcph. he ... | 2004 | 15045028 |
| orangutan herpesvirus. | a male orangutan suffered from ulcers at the buccal mucosa. we obtained swab fluid from the base of both vesicles and ulcers and collected blood for further separation into serum, plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmc) for detection of antibody to herpesvirus by serology and herpesvirus dna by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) using consensus degenerate primers. serology was positive for human ebv igg but negative for epstein-barr virus (ebv) immunoglobulin (igm), as well as for both ... | 2004 | 15061729 |
| negative-pressure pulmonary edema complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome in an orangutan (pongo pygmaeus abelii). | a 22-yr-old, 86-kg, morbidly obese female orangutan (pongo pygmaeus abelii) was immobilized and transported to the denver zoological gardens hospital for a routine physical examination. immediately after arriving at the hospital, cyanosis and apparent inadequate ventilatory efforts were noted. clinically significant hypoxia occurred despite attempts to ventilate the orangutan through face mask, and attempts to place an endotracheal tube began. a large volume of pink-tinged frothy fluid flowed fr ... | 2003 | 15077717 |
| determinants of orangutan density in the dryland forests of the leuser ecosystem. | orangutans are the only great ape in asia. since orangutan densities vary between habitat types within regions and within similar habitat types among regions, it is important to determine areas with high densities for their protection. in this paper we show that orangutan density in old-growth dryland forests in the leuser ecosystem, sumatra is significantly related to the density of large strangling figs and topsoil ph. in addition, large fig density depends on topsoil ph. provided that orangut ... | 2004 | 15098098 |
| nucleotide variation at msn and alas2, two genes flanking the centromere of the x chromosome in humans. | the centromeric region of the x chromosome in humans experiences low rates of recombination over a considerable physical distance. in such a region, the effects of selection may extend to linked sites that are far away. to investigate the effects of this recombinational environment on patterns of nucleotide variability, we sequenced 4581 bp at msn and 4697 bp at alas2, two genes situated on either side of the x chromosome centromere, in a worldwide sample of 41 men, as well as in one common chim ... | 2004 | 15166166 |
| evolution of beta satellite dna sequences: evidence for duplication-mediated repeat amplification and spreading. | in this article, we report studies on the evolutionary history of beta satellite repeats (bsr) in primates. in the orangutan genome, the bulk of bsr sequences was found organized as very short stretches of approximately 100 to 170 bp, embedded in a 60-kb to 80-kb duplicated dna segment. the estimated copy number of the duplicon that carries bsr sequences ranges from 70 to 100 per orangutan haploid genome. in both macaque and gibbon, the duplicon mapped to a single chromosomal region at the bound ... | 2004 | 15201396 |
| the evolutionary conservation of the human chitotriosidase gene in rodents and primates. | chitinases have been identified in a variety of organisms ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, known to specifically degrade chitin, an abundant polymer of n-acetylglucosamine. recently a human chitinolytic enzyme called chit1 was discovered. chit1 is expressed by activated macrophages and hydrolyzes artificial chitotrioside substrates, but its specific function in humans is unknown, since it is generally believed that man completely lacks endogenous chitin and endogenous substrates for chiti ... | 2004 | 15218258 |
| interlaminar astroglial processes in the cerebral cortex of great apes. | the present study was designed to document the architecture of neocortical astroglia in great apes, following glial fibrillary acidic protein immunohistochemistry. these anthropoid species were missing from previous phylogenetic descriptions of astroglia with interlaminar processes, a characteristic event of the cerebral cortex within the primate order. pongo pygmaeus (orangutan), gorilla gorilla (gorilla) and pan troglodytes (chimpanzee) brain samples showed the typical "palisade" of interlamin ... | 2004 | 15221474 |
| population genetic and phylogenetic evidence for positive selection on regulatory mutations at the factor vii locus in humans. | the abundance of cis-regulatory polymorphisms in humans suggests that many may have been important in human evolution, but evidence for their role is relatively rare. four common polymorphisms in the 5' promoter region of factor vii (f7), a coagulation factor, have been shown to affect its transcription and protein abundance both in vitro and in vivo. three of these polymorphisms have low-frequency alleles that decrease expression of f7 and may provide protection against myocardial infarction (h ... | 2004 | 15238535 |
| evidence of selection on the domesticated ervwe1 env retroviral element involved in placentation. | the human endogenous retrovirus herv-w multicopy family includes a unique proviral locus, termed ervwe1, which contains gag and pol pseudogenes and has retained a full-length envelope open reading frame (orf). this env protein (syncytin) is a highly fusogenic membrane glycoprotein and has been proposed to be involved in hominoid placental physiology. to track the hallmarks of natural selection acting on the ervwe1 env gene, the pattern of substitutions and indels was analyzed within all human he ... | 2004 | 15254254 |
| functional structure of the skull in hominoidea. | finite elements stress analysis (fesa) was used to investigate the flow of compressive forces which occur if a homogenous, three-dimensional body representing the skull is loaded by simulated bite forces against the tooth row. model 1 represents the snout alone. bite forces are applied simultaneously, but increase rearward. stresses in the model concentrate along the anterior contour and the lower surface of the model, leaving unstressed a nasal opening and a wide naso-oral connection. model 2 r ... | 2004 | 15316152 |
| positive selection in maoa gene is human exclusive: determination of the putative amino acid change selected in the human lineage. | monoamine oxidase a (maoa) is the x-linked gene responsible for deamination and subsequent degradation of several neurotransmitters and other amines. among other activities, the gene has been shown to play a role in locomotion, circadian rhythm, and pain sensitivity and to have a critical influence on behavior and cognition. previous studies have reported a non-neutral evolution of the gene attributable to positive selection in the human lineage. to determine whether this selection was human-exc ... | 2004 | 15349769 |
| intra-and interpopulational differences in orangutan (pongo pygmaeus) activity and diet: implications for the invention of tool use. | tool manufacture and use have been described for wild orangutans (pongo pygmaeus), with appreciable interpopulational differences in tool complexes. the ecological factors that contribute to these differences require investigation. significant interpopulational differences in diet suggest that ecological factors contribute to variation in tool-based insect foraging. using 4 years of behavioral data from the suaq balimbing research station (sumatra, indonesia), we tested predictions of two ecolog ... | 2004 | 15365982 |
| 3d-kinematics of vertical climbing in hominoids. | vertical climbing has played an important role in theories about the evolution of habitual bipedalism in early hominids and of locomotor specialization in hominoids. however, empirical data on vertical climbing in nonhuman primates are scarce, especially regarding kinematics. in this paper, the kinematics of flexed-elbow vertical climbing of four hominoid species are reported: western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla), bonobos (pan paniscus), sumatran orangutans (pongo pygmaeus abelii), ... | 2005 | 15386239 |
| locomotor ecology of wild orangutans (pongo pygmaeus abelii) in the gunung leuser ecosystem, sumatra, indonesia: a multivariate analysis using log-linear modelling. | the large body mass and exclusively arboreal lifestyle of sumatran orangutans identify them as a key species in understanding the dynamic between primates and their environment. increased knowledge of primate locomotor ecology, coupled with recent developments in the standardization of positional mode classifications (hunt et al. [1996] primates 37:363-387), opened the way for sophisticated multivariate statistical approaches, clarifying complex associations between multiple influences on locomo ... | 2005 | 15386279 |
| development of ecological competence in sumatran orangutans. | data on orangutans (pongo pygmaeus abelii) living in a sumatran swamp forest yield an estimated median interbirth interval of at least 8 years, concurring with findings from other sites. this longest known mammalian interbirth interval appears due to maternal amenorrhea during the long exclusive dependence of the offspring. we describe the development of various components of offspring independence. in this arboreal ape, 3-year-olds had largely reached locomotor independence. nest-building skill ... | 2005 | 15472890 |
| the immunoglobulin lambda variable light-chain region in primates has been shaped by multiple, independent, small-scale and large-scale insertion/deletion events. | we analyzed genomes of nonhuman primates to determine the ancestral state of a 9.1-kb insertion/deletion polymorphism, located on human chromosome 22. the 9.1-kb+ allele was found in 16 chimpanzees, 3 bonobos, and 2 bornean orangutans; however, 9 chimpanzees and 6 sumatran orangutans showed neither the 9.1-kb+ nor the 9.1-kb- allele, but a novel allele, termed 9.1-kbnull. a clone from a chimpanzee bac library carrying the 9.1-kbnull allele was sequenced: the bac dna aligns with the human chromos ... | 2004 | 15475245 |
| how strong is the mutagenicity of recombination in mammals? | it is commonly believed that a high recombination rate such as that in a pseudoautosomal region (par) greatly increases the mutation rate because a 170-fold increase was estimated for the mouse par region. however, sequencing par and non-par introns of the fxy gene in four mus taxa, we found an increase of only twofold to fivefold. furthermore, analyses of sequence data from human and orangutan par and x-linked regions and from autosomal regions showed a weak effect of recombination on mutation ... | 2005 | 15496551 |
| the evolutionary history of human chromosome 7. | we report on a comparative molecular cytogenetic and in silico study on evolutionary changes in human chromosome 7 homologs in all major primate lineages. the ancestral mammalian homologs comprise two chromosomes (7a and 7b/16p) and are conserved in carnivores. the subchromosomal organization of the ancestral primate segment 7a shared by a lemur and higher old world monkeys is the result of a paracentric inversion. the ancestral higher primate chromosome form was then derived by a fission of 7b/ ... | 2004 | 15498453 |
| the perception of four basic emotions in human and nonhuman faces by children with autism and other developmental disabilities. | children who experienced autism, mental retardation, and language disorders; and, children in a clinical control group were shown photographs of human female, orangutan, and canine (boxer) faces expressing happiness, sadness, anger, surprise and a neutral expression. for each species of faces, children were asked to identify the happy, sad, angry, or surprised expressions. in experiment 1, error patterns suggested that children who experienced autism were attending to features of the lower face ... | 2004 | 15500027 |
| incisor-molar relationships in chimpanzees and other hominoids: implications for diet and phylogeny. | in chimpanzees, the cutting edge of the incisor battery is longer in relation to the length of the molar row than in any other hominoid, extant or fossil, the only other lineage approaching it being the orangutan. apart from their increased mesio-distal dimensions, the upper and lower incisors of chimpanzees differ in additional ways from those of almost all other hominoids. the i2/ is enlarged, so that the difference in size between it and the central upper incisor is less than it is in the het ... | 2005 | 15503253 |
| the phylogeography of orangutan foamy viruses supports the theory of ancient repopulation of sumatra. | phylogenetic analysis of foamy virus sequences obtained from bornean and sumatran orangutans showed a distinct clustering pattern. one subcluster was represented by both bornean and sumatran orangutan simian foamy viruses (sfv). combined analysis of host mitochondrial dna and sfv phylogeny provided evidence for the hypothesis of the repopulation of sumatra by orangutans from borneo. | 2004 | 15507663 |
| nucleotide sequence comparison of a chromosome rearrangement on human chromosome 12 and the corresponding ape chromosomes. | chromosome rearrangement has been considered to be important in the evolutionary process. here, we demonstrate the evolutionary relationship of the rearranged human chromosome 12 and the corresponding chromosome xii in apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon) by examining pcr products derived from the breakpoints of inversions and by conducting shotgun sequencing of a gorilla fosmid clone containing the breakpoint and a "duplicated segment" (duplicon). we confirmed that a pair o ... | 2005 | 15545719 |
| genomic structure and paralogous regions of the inversion breakpoint occurring between human chromosome 3p12.3 and orangutan chromosome 2. | intrachromosomal duplications play a significant role in human genome pathology and evolution. to better understand the molecular basis of evolutionary chromosome rearrangements, we performed molecular cytogenetic and sequence analyses of the breakpoint region that distinguishes human chromosome 3p12.3 and orangutan chromosome 2. fish with region-specific bac clones demonstrated that the breakpoint-flanking sequences are duplicated intrachromosomally on orangutan 2 and human 3q21 as well as at m ... | 2005 | 15545721 |
| evolutionary breakpoint analysis on y chromosomes of higher primates provides insight into human y evolution. | comparative fish mapping of pac clones covering almost 3 mb of the human azfa region in yq11.21 to metaphases of human and great apes unravels breakpoints that were involved in species-specific y chromosome evolution. an astonishing clustering of evolutionary breakpoints was detected in the very proximal region on the long arm of the human y chromosome in yq11.21. these breakpoints were involved in deletions, one specific for the human and another for the orang-utan y chromosome, in a duplicativ ... | 2005 | 15545731 |
| the evolution of the azoospermia factor region azfa in higher primates. | clones of a pac contig encompassing the human azfa region in yq11.21 were comparatively fish mapped to great ape y chromosomes. while the orthologous azfa locus in the chimpanzee, the bonobo and the gorilla maps to the long arm of their y chromosomes in yq12.1-->q12.2, yq13.1-->q13.2 and yq11.2, respectively, it is found on the short arm of the orang-utan subspecies of borneo and sumatra, in yp12.3 and yp13.2, respectively. regarding the order of pac clones and genes within the azfa region, no d ... | 2005 | 15545732 |
| panels of somatic cell hybrids specific for chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and baboon. | the generation of panels of somatic cell hybrids specific for chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and olive baboon is reported. the chromosome content of each hybrid clone was characterized using reverse painting on human normal metaphases and by the use of appropriate sequence tag sites (stss), one for each chromosome arm. these resources can be advantageously exploited in the characterization of chromosome architecture of different primate species, with special reference to the discrimination of i ... | 2005 | 15545734 |
| comparative mapping of human claudin-1 (cldn1) in great apes. | the gene encoding claudin-1 (cldn1) has been mapped to human chromosome 3 (hsa3; 3q28-->q29) using a radiation hybrid panel. employing fluorescence in situ hybridization (fish) we here show that a human p1-derived artificial chromosome (pac) containing cldn1 detects the orthologous sites in chromosomes of the great apes, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. furthermore, the chromosomal position of cldn1 was determined in mouse chromosomes by fish. the position of fluorescent signals is confined t ... | 2005 | 15545735 |
| life history of wild sumatran orangutans (pongo abelii). | we present life history data on wild sumatran orangutans gleaned from a 32-year and a 5.5-year study. estimated age at first reproduction was 15.4 years. at 9.3 years, the average interbirth interval for this population is the longest ever recorded for any great ape population, significantly longer than that of a bornean orangutan population. we find that age-specific mortality of sumatran orangutans does not differ between sexes and is significantly lower than that of wild chimpanzees. we concl ... | 2004 | 15566945 |
| barking up the wrong ape--australopiths and the quest for chimpanzee characters in hominid fossils. | with the shift during the 1980s from a human-great ape ultimately to an orangutan-(gorilla-(human-chimp)) theory of relatedness, the search for chimpanzee-like features in early hominids intensified. reconstructions of early hominids became caricatures of chimpanzees, not only in soft tissue features (e.g. the nasal region), but in supposed bony structures (e.g. an anteriorly and especially superiorly protruding a supraorbital torus with a distinct posttoral sulcus behind). in spite of rampant > ... | 2004 | 15571084 |
| fast adaptive coevolution of nuclear and mitochondrial subunits of atp synthetase in orangutan. | nuclear and mitochondrial genomes have to work in concert to generate a functional oxidative phosphorylation (oxphos) system. we have previously shown that we could restore partial oxphos function when chimpanzee or gorilla mitochondrial dna (mtdna) were introduced into human cells lacking mtdna. however, we were unable to maintain orangutan mitochondrial dna in a human cell. we have now produced chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and baboon cells lacking mtdna and attempted to introduce mtdna from ... | 2004 | 15574809 |
| comparative cytogenetics of human chromosome 3q21.3 reveals a hot spot for ectopic recombination in hominoid evolution. | fluorescence in situ hybridization mapping of fully integrated human bac clones to primate chromosomes, combined with precise breakpoint localization by pcr analysis of flow-sorted chromosomes, was used to analyze the evolutionary rearrangements of the human 3q21.3-syntenic region in orangutan, siamang gibbon, and silvered-leaf monkey. three independent evolutionary breakpoints were localized within a 230-kb segment contained in bacs rp11-93k22 and rp11-77p16. approximately 200 kb of the human 3 ... | 2005 | 15607420 |
| aerial surveys give new estimates for orangutans in sabah, malaysia. | great apes are threatened with extinction, but precise information about the distribution and size of most populations is currently lacking. we conducted orangutan nest counts in the malaysian state of sabah (north borneo), using a combination of ground and helicopter surveys, and provided a way to estimate the current distribution and size of the populations living throughout the entire state. we show that the number of nests detected during aerial surveys is directly related to the estimated t ... | 2004 | 15630475 |
| a geometric morphometric assessment of hominoid crania: conservative african apes and their liberal implications. | this study examined the cranial affinities of all extant hominoids using 3d geometric morphometric analysis. a least squares procrustean superimposition was used to eliminate differences due to location, orientation, and size. because of a persistent correlation between centroid size and shape variation, an allometric size adjustment was also applied to these data. phenetic affinities were then examined through a battery of multivariate statistical analyses. results of this study indicate a stro ... | 2004 | 15646275 |
| craniofacial sexual dimorphism patterns and allometry among extant hominids. | craniofacial sexual dimorphism in primates varies in both magnitude and pattern among species. in the past two decades, there has been an increasing emphasis in exploring the correlations of these patterns with taxonomy and the variation in patterns within and among the craniofacial regions. scrutinising these relationships for hominids, we decompose the craniofacial morphology in five taxa: homo sapiens, pan paniscus, pan troglodytes, gorilla gorilla and pongo pygmaeus. 3d coordinates of 35 tra ... | 2004 | 15646280 |
| evolution of the brainstem orofacial motor system in primates: a comparative study of trigeminal, facial, and hypoglossal nuclei. | the trigeminal motor (vmo), facial (vii), and hypoglossal (xii) nuclei of the brainstem comprise the final common output for neural control of most orofacial muscles. hence, these cranial motor nuclei are involved in the production of adaptive behaviors such as feeding, facial expression, and vocalization. we measured the volume and grey level index (gli) of vmo, vii, and xii in 47 species of primates and examined these nuclei for scaling patterns and phylogenetic specializations. allometric reg ... | 2004 | 15656936 |
| frequent infection of hylobates pileatus (pileated gibbon) with species-associated variants of hepatitis b virus in cambodia. | as well as being distributed widely in human populations, hepatitis b virus (hbv) infections occur frequently in chimpanzee, gibbon and other ape populations in sub-saharan africa and south-east asia. to investigate the frequency and genetic relationships of hbv infecting gibbons in cambodia, pileated gibbons (hylobates pileatus) that were originally wild-caught were screened for surface antigen. twelve of 26 (46 %) were positive, of which 11 were positive for hbv dna. phylogenetic analysis of c ... | 2005 | 15659752 |
| patterns of genetic diversity and migration in increasingly fragmented and declining orang-utan (pongo pygmaeus) populations from sabah, malaysia. | we investigated the genetic structure within and among bornean orang-utans (pongo pygmaeus) in forest fragments of the lower kinabatangan flood plain in sabah, malaysia. dna was extracted from hair and faecal samples for 200 wild individuals collected during boat surveys on the kinabatangan river. fourteen microsatellite loci were used to characterize patterns of genetic diversity. we found that genetic diversity was high in the set of samples (mean h(e) = 0.74) and that genetic differentiation ... | 2005 | 15660936 |
| ontogeny of craniofacial sexual dimorphism in the orangutan (pongo pygmaeus). i: face and palate. | the orangutan is widely recognized as a highly dimorphic species. an ontogenetic approach to the study of sexual dimorphism can assist researchers in understanding both where and when these differences develop. in this study, 357 orangutans from borneo were divided into five developmental stages representing infancy to mature adulthood. three-dimensional (3d) coordinate data from 16 landmarks representing the face and palate were analyzed by means of a euclidean distance matrix analysis (edma), ... | 2005 | 15706586 |
| osteocalcin protein sequences of neanderthals and modern primates. | we report here protein sequences of fossil hominids, from two neanderthals dating to approximately 75,000 years old from shanidar cave in iraq. these sequences, the oldest reported fossil primate protein sequences, are of bone osteocalcin, which was extracted and sequenced by using maldi-tof/tof mass spectrometry. through a combination of direct sequencing and peptide mass mapping, we determined that neanderthals have an osteocalcin amino acid sequence that is identical to that of modern humans. ... | 2005 | 15753298 |
| retrovirus restriction by trim5alpha variants from old world and new world primates. | the trim5alpha proteins of humans and some old world monkeys have been shown to block infection of particular retroviruses following virus entry into the host cell. infection of most new world monkey cells by the simian immunodeficiency virus of macaques (sivmac) is restricted at a similar point. here we examine the antiretroviral activity of trim5alpha orthologs from humans, apes, old world monkeys, and new world monkeys. chimpanzee and orangutan trim5alpha proteins functionally resembled human ... | 2005 | 15767395 |
| a re-evaluation of localized hypoplasia of the primary canine as a marker of craniofacial osteopenia in european upper paleolithic infants. | localized hypoplasia of the primary canine (lhpc) occurs in prehistoric and contemporary populations with prevalence varying from 0 to 89%. one of the highest prevalences ever reported is upper paleolithic infants from europe where 70% are affected. in that lhpc is found in relatively high proportions of contemporary children with reported or suspected malnutrition, it is important to investigate the etiology of lhpc. previous research indicates that lhpc occurs in two steps: craniofacial osteop ... | 2000 | 15828199 |
| developmental changes in the facial morphology of the borneo orangutan (pongo pygmaeus): possible signals in visual communication. | orangutans display remarkable developmental changes and sexual differences in facial morphology, such as the flanges or cheek-pads that develop only on the face of dominant adult males. these changes suggest that facial morphology is an important factor in visual communication. however, developmental changes in facial morphology have not been examined in detail. we studied developmental changes in the facial morphology of the borneo orangutan (pongo pygmaeus) by observing 79 individuals of vario ... | 2005 | 15834889 |
| multi-species microarrays reveal the effect of sequence divergence on gene expression profiles. | interspecies comparisons of gene expression levels will increase our understanding of the evolution of transcriptional mechanisms and help to identify targets of natural selection. this approach holds particular promise for apes, as many human-specific adaptations are thought to result from differences in gene expression rather than in coding sequence. to date, however, all studies directly comparing interspecies gene expression have been performed on single-species arrays, so that it has been i ... | 2005 | 15867429 |
| the population genetics of the alpha-2 globin locus of orangutans (pongo pygmaeus). | in this study, the molecular population genetics of the orangutan's alpha-2 globin (hba2) gene were investigated in order to test for the action of natural selection. haplotypes from 28 orangutan chromosomes were collected from a 1.46-kilobase region of the alpha-2 globin locus. while many aspects of the data were consistent with neutrality, the observed heterogeneous distribution of polymorphisms was inconsistent with neutral expectations. furthermore, a single amino acid variant, found in both ... | 2005 | 15871050 |
| a simple alternative to line transects of nests for estimating orangutan densities. | we conducted a validation of the line transect technique to estimate densities of orangutan (pongo pygmaeus) nests in a bornean swamp forest, and compared these results with density estimates based on nest counts in plots and on female home ranges. first, we examined the accuracy of the line transect method. we found that the densities based on a pass in both directions of two experienced pairs of observers was 27% below a combined sample based on transect walks by eight pairs of observers, sugg ... | 2005 | 15983724 |
| progressive proximal expansion of the primate x chromosome centromere. | previous studies of the pericentromeric region of the human x chromosome short arm (xp) revealed an age gradient from ancient dna that contains expressed genes to recent human-specific dna at the functional centromere. we analyzed the finished sequence of this human genomic region to investigate its evolutionary history. phylogenetic analysis of >1,500 alpha-satellite monomers from the region revealed the presence of five physical domains, each containing monomers from a distinct phylogenetic cl ... | 2005 | 16030148 |
| glucocerebrosidase recombinant allele: molecular evolution of the glucocerebrosidase gene and pseudogene in primates. | glucocerebrosidase is a lysosomal enzyme that hydrolyses the beta-glycosidic linkage of glucocerebroside, a ubiquitous sphingolipid present in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. deleterious mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene result in gaucher disease, the most prevalent lysosomal storage disease. humans have one glucocerebrosidase functional gene and pseudogene that were located 16 kb apart on chromosome 1q21 and share 96% overall sequence similarity. recombination between the two gen ... | 2005 | 16102985 |
| evolutionary mechanisms shaping the genomic structure of the williams-beuren syndrome chromosomal region at human 7q11.23. | about 5% of the human genome consists of segmental duplications or low-copy repeats, which are large, highly homologous (>95%) fragments of sequence. it has been estimated that these segmental duplications emerged during the past approximately 35 million years (myr) of human evolution and that they correlate with chromosomal rearrangements. williams-beuren syndrome (wbs) is a segmental aneusomy syndrome that is the result of a frequent de novo deletion at 7q11.23, mediated by large (approximatel ... | 2005 | 16140988 |
| independent intrachromosomal recombination events underlie the pericentric inversions of chimpanzee and gorilla chromosomes homologous to human chromosome 16. | analyses of chromosomal rearrangements that have occurred during the evolution of the hominoids can reveal much about the mutational mechanisms underlying primate chromosome evolution. we characterized the breakpoints of the pericentric inversion of chimpanzee chromosome 18 (ptr xvi), which is homologous to human chromosome 16 (hsa 16). a conserved 23-kb inverted repeat composed of satellites, line and alu elements was identified near the breakpoints and could have mediated the inversion by brin ... | 2005 | 16140991 |
| evolutionary conservation of 5' upstream sequence of nine genes between human and great apes. | nucleotide sequences of nine 5' upstream gene regions for human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan were determined. we estimated nucleotide differences (d) for each region between human and great apes. the overall d was 0.027 (ranged from 0.004 to 0.052). rates of nucleotide substitution were estimated by using d and divergence times of human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. the overall rate of nucleotide substitution between human and other hominoids was estimated to be 0.52-0.85 x 10(-9). ... | 2005 | 16172534 |
| mhc-f dna sequences in bonobo, gorilla and orangutan. | the major histocompatibility complex (mhc)-f class ib locus shows a limited polymorphism, and the function of its mainly intracellular protein is not clear. we have identified human leucocyte antigen (hla)-f orthologous dna sequences in pongidae in order to study the mhc-f gene evolution and its products' function. hla-f orthologous cdna transcripts are found in chimpanzee and in the new primate species studied (bonobo, gorilla and orangutan). analyses of the predicted amino acid sequences and t ... | 2005 | 16185322 |
| planum parietale of chimpanzees and orangutans: a comparative resonance of human-like planum temporale asymmetry. | we have previously demonstrated that leftward asymmetry of the planum temporale (pt), a brain language area, was not unique to humans since a similar condition is present in great apes. here we report on a related area in great apes, the planum parietale (pp). pp in humans has a rightward asymmetry with no correlation to the l>r pt, which indicates functional independence. the roles of the pt in human language are well known while pp is implicated in dyslexia and communication disorders. since p ... | 2005 | 16215971 |
| isolation of the feline alpha1,3-galactosyltransferase gene, expression in transfected human cells and its phylogenetic analysis. | the enzyme alpha 1,3-galactosyltransferase (alpha1,3-gt), which catalyzes synthesis of terminal alpha-galactosyl epitopes (gal alpha1,3gal beta1-4glcnac-r), is produced in non-primate mammals, prosimians and new-world monkeys, but not in old-world monkeys, apes and humans. we cloned and sequenced a cdna that contains the coding sequence of the feline alpha1,3-gt gene. flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the alpha-galactosyl epitope was expressed on the surface of a human cell line transdu ... | 2006 | 16217797 |
| the cross-sectional geometry of the hand and foot bones of the hominoidea and its relationship to locomotor behavior. | cheiridia are valuable indicators of positional behavior, as they directly contact the substrate, but systematic comparison of the structural properties of both metacarpals and metatarsals has never been carried out. differences in locomotor behavior among the great apes (knuckle-walking vs. quadrumanous climbing) can produce biomechanical differences that may be elucidated by the parallel study of cross-sectional characteristics of metacarpals and metatarsals. the aim of this work is to study t ... | 2005 | 16219337 |
| the axon guidance receptor gene robo1 is a candidate gene for developmental dyslexia. | dyslexia, or specific reading disability, is the most common learning disorder with a complex, partially genetic basis, but its biochemical mechanisms remain poorly understood. a locus on chromosome 3, dyx5, has been linked to dyslexia in one large family and speech-sound disorder in a subset of small families. we found that the axon guidance receptor gene robo1, orthologous to the drosophila roundabout gene, is disrupted by a chromosome translocation in a dyslexic individual. in a large pedigre ... | 2005 | 16254601 |
| recombination in the genesis and evolution of hepatitis b virus genotypes. | hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection is widely distributed in both human and ape populations throughout the world and is a major cause of human morbidity and mortality. hbv variants are currently classified into the human genotypes a to h and species-associated chimpanzee and gibbon/orangutan groups. to examine the role of recombination in the evolution of hbv, large-scale data retrieval and automated phylogenetic analysis (treeorder scanning) were carried out on all available published complete ge ... | 2005 | 16306618 |
| identification of large-scale human-specific copy number differences by inter-species array comparative genomic hybridization. | copy number differences (cnds), and the concomitant differences in gene number, have contributed significantly to the genomic divergence between humans and other primates. to assess its relative importance, the genomes of human, common chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan and macaque were compared by comparative genomic hybridization using a high-resolution human bac array (acgh). in an attempt to avoid potential interference from frequent intra-species polymorphism, pooled dna samples were us ... | 2006 | 16395594 |
| feeding behavior, diet, and the functional consequences of jaw form in orangutans, with implications for the evolution of pongo. | orangutans are amongst the most craniometrically variable of the extant great apes, yet there has been no attempt to explicitly link this morphological variation with observed differences in behavioral ecology. this study explores the relationship between feeding behavior, diet, and mandibular morphology in orangutans. all orangutans prefer ripe, pulpy fruit when available. however, some populations of bornean orangutans (pongo pygmaeus morio and p. p. wurmbii) rely more heavily on bark and rela ... | 2006 | 16413045 |
| genetic signature of anthropogenic population collapse in orang-utans. | great ape populations are undergoing a dramatic decline, which is predicted to result in their extinction in the wild from entire regions in the near future. recent findings have particularly focused on african apes, and have implicated multiple factors contributing to this decline, such as deforestation, hunting, and disease. less well-publicised, but equally dramatic, has been the decline in orang-utans, whose distribution is limited to parts of sumatra and borneo. using the largest-ever genet ... | 2006 | 16417405 |
| structural variation of the monoamine oxidase a gene promoter repeat polymorphism in nonhuman primates. | by conferring allele-specific transcriptional activity on the monoamine oxidase a (maoa) gene in humans, length variation of a repetitive sequence [(variable number of tandem repeat (vntr)] in the maoa promoter influences a constellation of personality traits related to aggressive and antisocial behavior and increases the risk of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. here, we have analyzed the presence and variability of this maoa promoter repeat in several species of nonhuman primates. ... | 2006 | 16436187 |
| population history, biogeography, and taxonomy of orangutans (genus: pongo) based on a population genetic meta-analysis of multiple loci. | this paper examines orangutan population history and evolution through a meta-analysis of seven loci collected from both sumatran and bornean orangutans. within orangutans, most loci show that the sumatran population is about twice as diverse as the bornean population. orangutans are more diverse than african apes and humans. sumatran and bornean populations show significant genetic differentiation from one another and their history does not differ significantly from an 'island model' (populatio ... | 2006 | 16472840 |
| segmental duplication associated with evolutionary instability of human chromosome 3p25.1. | fluorescence in situ hybridization (fish) of human bacterial artificial chromosome (bac) clones to orangutan metaphase spreads localized a breakpoint between human chromosome 3p25.1 and orangutan chromosome 2 to a <30-kb interval. the inversion occurred in a relatively gene-rich region with seven genes within 500 kb. the underlying breakpoint is closely juxtaposed to validated genes, however no functional gene has been disrupted by the evolutionary rearrangement. an approximately 21-kb dna segme ... | 2006 | 16484773 |
| personality and subjective well-being in orangutans (pongo pygmaeus and pongo abelii). | orangutans (pongo pygmaeus and pongo abelii) are semisolitary apes and, among the great apes, the most distantly related to humans. raters assessed 152 orangutans on 48 personality descriptors; 140 of these orangutans were also rated on a subjective well-being questionnaire. principal-components analysis yielded 5 reliable personality factors: extraversion, dominance, neuroticism, agreeableness, and intellect. the authors found no factor analogous to human conscientiousness. among the orangutans ... | 2006 | 16594834 |
| dietary characterization of the hominoid khoratpithecus (miocene of thailand): evidence from dental topographic and microwear texture analyses. | the genus khoratpithecus, a hominoid thought to be related to the orangutan lineage, is represented by two known fossil species k. chiangmuanensis and k. piriyai. both were discovered in southeast asia (thailand) and are dated to the middle and late miocene, respectively. in this study, dental topographic and microwear texture analyses were used to examine molars from both of these species, with the goal of understanding their dietary preferences. although sample sizes are small for khoratpithec ... | 2006 | 16604335 |
| orangutan positional behavior and the nature of arboreal locomotion in hominoidea. | the asian apes, more than any other, are restricted to an arboreal habitat. they are consequently an important model in the interpretation of the morphological commonalities of the apes, which are locomotor features associated with arboreal living. this paper presents a detailed analysis of orangutan positional behavior for all age-sex categories and during a complete range of behavioral contexts, following standardized positional mode descriptions proposed by hunt et al. ([1996] primates 37:363 ... | 2006 | 16617429 |
| khoratpithecus piriyai, a late miocene hominoid of thailand. | a khoratpithecus piriyai lower jaw corresponds to a well-preserved late miocene hominoid fossil from northeastern thailand. its morphology and internal structure, using a microcomputed tomography scan, are described and compared to those of other known miocene hominoids. it originated from fluviatile sand and gravel deposits of a large river, and was associated with many fossil tree trunks, wood fragments, and large vertebrate remains. a biochronological analysis by using associated mammal fauna ... | 2006 | 16617433 |
| automatic 3-d grayscale volume matching and shape analysis. | recently, shape matching in three dimensions (3-d) has been gaining importance in a wide variety of fields such as computer graphics, computer vision, medicine, and biology, with applications such as object recognition, medical diagnosis, and quantitative morphological analysis of biological operations. automatic shape matching techniques developed in the field of computer graphics handle object surfaces, but ignore intensities of inner voxels. in biology and medical imaging, voxel intensities o ... | 2006 | 16617625 |
| the development of wild immature sumatran orangutans (pongo abelii) at ketambe. | orangutans have the longest immature period and inter-birth interval of all ape species. this may be explained by a slow life history, the need to develop skills or by their relatively solitary lifestyle, which prevents a mother from associating with two offspring. this study of wild immature orangutans at the ketambe research station, indonesia, describes, with partly cross-sectional, partly longitudinal data, their development to independence. the study subjects ranged from 1 to 11 years of ag ... | 2006 | 16670816 |
| cloning and characterization of the dromedary (camelus dromedarius) neonatal fc receptor (drfcrn). | the full length cdna of the dromedary neonatal fc receptor (drfcrn) alpha chain was isolated and found that it is similar to the neonatal fc receptor (fcrn) of other species with a high overall similarity to ruminant fcrn alpha chains. the drfcrn/fc contact residues are highly conserved and predicted to bind both conventional (igg1) and heavy chain (igg2a, igg3) antibodies. using immunohistochemistry, we detected its expression in the hepatocytes and in epithelial cells of portal bile ductuli an ... | 2006 | 16690125 |
| evolution of the primate cathelicidin. correlation between structural variations and antimicrobial activity. | cathelicidin genes homologous to the human camp gene, coding for the host defense peptide ll-37, have been sequenced and analyzed in 20 primate species, including great apes, hylobatidae, cercopithecidae, callithricidae, and cebidae. the region corresponding to the putative mature antimicrobial peptide is subject to a strong selective pressure for variation, with evidence for positive selection throughout the phylogenetic tree relating the peptides, which favors alterations in the charge while l ... | 2006 | 16720578 |
| non-invasive blood sampling from primates using laboratory-bred blood-sucking bugs (dipetalogaster maximus; reduviidae, heteroptera). | primates are easily stressed by the conventional veterinary blood sampling routine and consequently, measured blood parameters may be biased. in this study, we tested blood-sucking bugs (dipetalogaster maximus) on one lemur and two ape species (microcebus murinus, pongo abelii, pan paniscus) as an alternative, non-invasive technique for bleeding primates. within time periods of between 6 and 62 min we obtained blood volumes of 0.01-2.4 ml in 11 out of 12 trials from all three species. therefore, ... | 2006 | 16741605 |
| demographic history and genetic differentiation in apes. | comparisons of genetic variation between humans and great apes are hampered by the fact that we still know little about the demographics and evolutionary history of the latter species. in addition, characterizing ape genetic variation is important because they are threatened with extinction, and knowledge about genetic differentiation among groups may guide conservation efforts. we sequenced multiple intergenic autosomal regions totaling 22,400 base pairs (bp) in ten individuals each from wester ... | 2006 | 16753568 |
| morphological analysis of the hindlimb in apes and humans. i. muscle architecture. | we present quantitative data on the hindlimb musculature of pan paniscus, gorilla gorilla gorilla, gorilla gorilla graueri, pongo pygmaeus abelii and hylobates lar and discuss the findings in relation to the locomotor habits of each. muscle mass and fascicle length data were obtained for all major hindlimb muscles. physiological cross-sectional area (pcsa) was estimated. data were normalized assuming geometric similarity to allow for comparison of animals of different size/species. muscle mass s ... | 2006 | 16761973 |
| morphological analysis of the hindlimb in apes and humans. ii. moment arms. | flexion/extension moment arms were obtained for the major muscles crossing the hip, knee and ankle joints in the orang-utan, gibbon, gorilla (eastern and western lowland) and bonobo. moment arms varied with joint motion and were generally longer in proximal limb muscles than distal limb muscles. the shape of the moment arm curves (i.e. the plots of moment arm against joint angle) differed in different hindlimb muscles and in the same muscle in different subjects (both in the same and in differen ... | 2006 | 16761974 |
| airsacculitis in fourteen juvenile southern bornean orangutans (pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). | airsacculitis is a clinical condition which has been reported in a range of primates species, including orangutans. | 2006 | 16764673 |
| inferring pongo conservation units: a perspective based on microsatellite and mitochondrial dna analyses. | in order to define evolutionarily significant and management units (esus and mus) among subpopulations of sumatran (pongo pygmaeus abelii) and bornean (p. p. pygmaeus) orangutans we determined their genetic relationships. we analyzed partial sequences of four mitochondrial genes and nine autosomal microsatellite loci of 70 orangutans to test two hypotheses regarding the population structure within borneo and the genetic distinction between bornean and sumatran orangutans. our data show bornean o ... | 2006 | 16783503 |
| ssadh variation in primates: intra- and interspecific data on a gene with a potential role in human cognitive functions. | in the present study we focus on the nucleotide and the inferred amino acid variation occurring in humans and other primate species for mitochondrial nad(+)-dependent succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, a gene recently supposed to contribute to cognitive performance in humans. we determined 2527 bp of coding, intronic, and flanking sequences from chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, gibbon, and macaque. we also resequenced the entire coding sequence on 39 independent chromosomes from italian ... | 2006 | 16786440 |
| identification, characterization and comparative genomics of chimpanzee endogenous retroviruses. | retrotransposons, the most abundant and widespread class of eukaryotic transposable elements, are believed to play a significant role in mutation and disease and to have contributed significantly to the evolution of genome structure and function. the recent sequencing of the chimpanzee genome is providing an unprecedented opportunity to study the functional significance of these elements in two closely related primate species and to better evaluate their role in primate evolution. | 2006 | 16805923 |
| adaptive selection of mitochondrial complex i subunits during primate radiation. | mammalian oxidative phosphorylation (oxphos) complexes i, iii, iv and v are assembled from both mitochondrial dna (mtdna) and nuclear dna (ndna) encoded subunits, with complex i encompassing 39 ndna and seven mtdna subunits. yet the sequence variation of the mtdna genes is more than ten fold greater than that of the ndna encoded genes of the oxphos complexes and the mtdna proteins have been found to be influenced by positive (adaptive) selection. to maintain a functional complex i, ndna and mtdn ... | 2006 | 16828987 |
| philopatry and reproductive success in bornean orang-utans (pongo pygmaeus). | behavioural observations suggest that orang-utans are semi-solitary animals with females being philopatric and males roaming more widely in search of receptive partners, leading to the prediction that females are more closely related than males at any given site. in contrast, our study presents evidence for male and female philopatry in the orang-utan. we examined patterns of relatedness and parentage in a wild orang-utan population in borneo using noninvasively collected dna samples from animal ... | 2006 | 16842428 |
| porcine parkin: molecular cloning of park2 cdna, expression analysis, and identification of a splicing variant. | parkin, encoded by the park2 gene, is an e3 ligase which functions as an integral component of the cytoplasmic ubiquitin/proteasomal protein degradation pathway. mutations in the park2 gene, resulting in the loss of parkin function, leads to autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (ar-jp). this work reports the cloning and characterization of the porcine (sus scrofa) park2 cdna (sspark2) and splicing variants hereof. the park2 cdna was amplified by the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain re ... | 2006 | 16844087 |
| mona lisa smile: the morphological enigma of human and great ape evolution. | the science of human evolution is confronted with the popular chimpanzee theory and the earlier but largely ignored orangutan theory. the quality and scope of published documentation and verification of morphological features suggests there is very little in morphology to support a unique common ancestor for humans and chimpanzees. a close relationship between humans and african apes is currently supported by only eight unproblematic characters. the orangutan relationship is supported by about 2 ... | 2006 | 16865704 |
| accelerated evolution of protocadherin11x/y: a candidate gene-pair for cerebral asymmetry and language. | it has been argued that cerebral asymmetry (the "torque") is the characteristic that defines the human brain and that morphological findings in psychosis are consistent with a deviation in this sex-dependent dimension of brain growth. evidence from sex chromosome aneuploidies and an association within families between sex and handedness is consistent with the presence of a determinant of cerebral asymmetry (a possible correlate of language) on the x and the y chromosomes. during hominid evolutio ... | 2006 | 16874762 |
| comparative evolutionary genomics of the hadh2 gene encoding abeta-binding alcohol dehydrogenase/17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 10 (abad/hsd10). | the abeta-binding alcohol dehydrogenase/17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 10 (abad/hsd10) is an enzyme involved in pivotal metabolic processes and in the mitochondrial dysfunction seen in the alzheimer's disease. here we use comparative genomic analyses to study the evolution of the hadh2 gene encoding abad/hsd10 across several eukaryotic species. | 2006 | 16899120 |
| evolution of an intronic microsatellite polymorphism in toll-like receptor 2 among primates. | nonhuman primates express varying responses to mycobacterium tuberculosis: new world monkeys appear to be resistant to tuberculosis (tb) while old world monkeys seem to be particularly susceptible. the aim of this study was to elucidate the presence of the regulatory guanine-thymine (gt) repeat polymorphisms in intron 2 of toll-like receptor 2 (tlr2) associated with the development of tb in humans and to determine any variations in these microsatellite polymorphisms in primates. we sequenced the ... | 2006 | 16912902 |
| phylogeny of primate t lymphotropic virus type 1 (ptlv-1) including various new asian and african non-human primate strains. | to further unravel intra- and interspecies ptlv-1 evolution in asia and africa, we phylogenetically analysed 15 new stlv-1 ltr and env sequences discovered in eight different asian and african non-human primate species. we show that orang-utan stlv-1s form a tight, deeply branching monophyletic cluster between asian stlv-1 macaque species clades, suggesting natural cross-species transmission. novel viruses of macaca maura, macaca nigra and siamang cluster with other sulawesian stlv-1s, demonstra ... | 2007 | 16931175 |
| variation in brain size and ecology in pongo. | numerous hypotheses have been advanced to explain relative increases in brain size in primates and other mammals. however, notably less attention has been directed towards addressing the biological limits to increasing brain size. here we explore variation in brain size in orangutans. we evaluated both raw and size-adjusted cranial capacity (cc) in adult pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus (n=147), p. p. wurmbii (n=24), p. p. morio (n=14), and p. abelii (n=36). results demonstrate significant variation in c ... | 2007 | 16968652 |
| focusing on comparative ape population genetics in the post-genomic age. | the initial human and chimpanzee genome sequences have been published, and additional primate genomes, including those of gorilla and orang-utan, are in progress. with these new resources, we can now address what makes our species unique, by focusing on the underlying genetic differences associated with phenotypes. comparative primate population genomics, including studies of structural changes, mobile elements, gene expression and functional analyses, will shed light on how natural selection an ... | 2006 | 17010600 |
| comparative analysis of estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms in apes. | polymorphic microsatellite repeats in the promoter region of estrogen receptor alpha gene (esralpha and the intron 6 region of estrogen receptor beta gene (esrbeta) have been reported in human populations. to examine the evolutional state of both repeats, we surveyed the corresponding regions in dna sequences from the following great apes and gibbons: 56 chimpanzees, 3 bonobos, 16 gorillas, 20 orangutans and 60 gibbons (four species: 17 of hylobates agilis, 11 of h. lar, 15 of h. muelleri, and 1 ... | 2007 | 17024513 |
| the orang-utan mating system and the unflanged male: a product of increased food stress during the late miocene and pliocene? | the orang-utan is unique among apes in having an unusually long male developmental period and two distinct adult male morphs (flanged and unflanged), which generally, but not exclusively, employ different reproductive strategies (call-and-wait vs. sneak-and-rape). both morphs have recently been shown to have roughly similar levels of reproductive success in the one site where such a study has been conducted. this is in stark contrast to the unimale polygynous gorilla, in which dominant males sir ... | 2007 | 17083968 |
| the arteries of the brain of the orang-utan. | | 1927 | 17104131 |
| call diversity of wild male orangutans: a phylogenetic approach. | over the past 20 years several studies have attempted to clarify orangutan systematics based on dna sequences and karyological and morphological data; however, the systematic and phylogenetic relationships among orangutan taxa remain controversial. surprisingly, few systematic studies have used data from wild-living orangutans of exactly known provenance. furthermore, most of these studies pooled data from huge geographic areas in their analyses, thus ignoring possibly distinct subpopulations. t ... | 2007 | 17146791 |
| use of limestone karst forests by bornean orangutans (pongo pygmaeus morio) in the sangkulirang peninsula, east kalimantan, indonesia. | the indonesian province of east kalimantan is home to some of the largest remaining contiguous tracts of lowland dipterocarp forest on the island of borneo. nest surveys recently conducted in these forests indicated the presence of a substantial population of eastern bornean orangutans (pongo pygmaeus morio) in the berau and east kutai regencies in the northern half of the province. the sangkulirang peninsula contains extensive limestone karst forests in close proximity to the lowland dipterocar ... | 2007 | 17146797 |
| orangutan leaf-carrying for nest-building: toward unraveling cultural processes. | we report an empirical study on leaf-carrying, a newly discovered nest-building technique that involves collecting nest materials before reaching the nest site. we assessed whether leaf-carrying by rehabilitant orangutans on kaja island, central kalimantan, owes to cultural influences. findings derive from ca 600 h observational data on nesting skills and nesting associations in kaja's 42 resident rehabilitants, which yielded 355 nests and 125 leaf-carrying cases by 34 rehabilitants. regional co ... | 2007 | 17160669 |
| chimpanzee, orangutan, mouse, and human cell cycle promoters exempt ccaat boxes and chr elements from interspecies differences. | mechanisms regulating the cell division cycle are well conserved among all eukaryotes. consistently many proteins regulating the cell cycle are functionally interchangeable between many organisms. cell division control is regulated on different levels of which the transcriptional level appears to be particularly important for controlling synthesis of many cell cycle proteins. we had earlier described transcription factor-binding sites essential for regulating genes important for the transition f ... | 2007 | 17205977 |
| haplotype structure of fshb, the beta-subunit gene for fertility-associated follicle-stimulating hormone: possible influence of balancing selection. | follicle-stimulating hormone (fsh) is essential for human reproduction. the unique functions of this hormone are provided by the fsh receptor-binding beta-subunit encoded by the fshb gene. resequencing and genotyping of fshb in three european, two asian and one african population, as well as in the great apes (chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan), revealed low diversity and significant excess of polymorphisms with intermediate frequency alleles. statistical tests for fshb showed deviations from neutr ... | 2007 | 17227474 |