Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\nPlatypus has sex chromosomes that are a lot like birds<\/h3>\n
Their study can give us some answers as to how the weird traits of the platypus arose.<\/p>\n
Professor Guojie Zhang is particularly amazed by the 10 sex chromosomes that the platypus turns out to have. We have two of them, but the platypus has 10, divided into five Y and five X chromosomes.
\n
\n\u00bbThis is perhaps one of the most important results coming out of our study: that the platypus has 10 sex chromosomes. Our sequencing of them is of a very high quality, and it turns out that the platypus\u2019 sex chromosomes have nothing to do with the human ones, but correlate instead with the sex chromosomes of chickens. Platypuses in other words have bird-like sex chromosomes,\u00ab says Guojie Zhang.<\/p>\n
The platypus has only one out of three sets of egg genes left<\/h3>\n
A platypus lays eggs, even though it is a mammal. Why do we humans no longer lay eggs?<\/em><\/p>\n\u00bbThis is a difficult question to answer,\u00ab says Guojie Zhang, \u00bbbut our research has shown that the ancestors of humans and the ancestors of mammals had genes that were both able to form eggs and egg yolk. One of these genes is still active in the platypus, while humans have lost all three of them. Perhaps it is because we, as a species, became so skilled at taking care of our weak, newborn, young that we no longer had to lay eggs,\u00ab says Guojie Zhang.<\/p>\n
His research has also shown that the platypus carries a so-called vitellogenin gene, which it needs to form eggs and egg yolk, while modern day birds \u2013 like chickens \u2013 bear all three of the vitellogenin genes.<\/p>\n
According to Guojie Zhang, we do not know exactly when the platypus lost the two vitellogenin genes, but this may have happened about 180 million years ago.<\/p>\n
The platypus also has genes that allow it to produce milk for its young, after the eggs are hatched \u2013 even though the female does not have teets. The young lick the milk from the mother’s fur.<\/p>\n
Incredible progress in genome sequencing<\/h3>\n
The platypus belongs to the group of the earliest mammals called monotremes, and the platypus, and its cousin the ant eater, are a part of the group. The animals use a single duct (the cloaca) for their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems.<\/p>\n
The sequencing of the platypus genome is 96 per cent complete. It took only six months to complete the platypus project, compared to the thirteen years it took to map out the human genome. The sequencing of the human genome lasted from 1990 to April 2003, and cost USD 2.7 billion.<\/p>\n
According to Guojie Zhang, the big difference is not so much that it is easier to map the genome of the platypus than the human.<\/p>\n
It is just that the scientific equipment that sequence whole genomes has got so much better since the beginning of the new millennium. A few researchers can now achieve the sequencing of a mammal\u2019s genome in six months and with a relatively modest budget of about EUR 8,000 \u2013 even though the final costs, according to Guojie Zhang, can vary greatly due to unforeseen expenses.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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It sweats milk and has glowing fur \u2014 sequenced genome of the platypus \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It has been called bizarre, iconic, unusual, mysterious and strange. Now the whole genome of the platypus has been sequenced. A scientist from the University of Copenhagen led the project.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/it-sweats-milk-and-has-glowing-fur-the-genome-of-the-platypus-has-been-sequenced\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It sweats milk and has glowing fur \u2014 sequenced genome of the platypus \u2014 University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It has been called bizarre, iconic, unusual, mysterious and strange. 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En forsker fra K\u00f8benhavns Universitet har ledet projektet, der kun har kostet en br\u00f8kdel af, hvad det kostede at kortl\u00e6gge det menneskelige genom for 13 \u00e5r siden.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The platypus has glowing fur, sweats milk, has 10 gender chromosomes, a poisonous claw, a beak to record electrical impulses from its prey in water, webbing for swimming between its toes, and lays eggs even though it is a mammal.<\/p>\n<p>There are not many animals that are as strange as the platypus. And we humans actually share a distant, common ancestor with it some time around 170 million years ago.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, this is a quirky and \u2014 evolutionary speaking \u2014 durable cousin. Professor Guojie Zhang from the Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen believes that we might be able to learn something from it.<\/p>\n<p>Together with researchers from other universities throughout the world, he has mapped out the full genome of the platypus. The project took six months, and the results have been published in the scientific journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-020-03039-0\">Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Platypus has sex chromosomes that are a lot like birds<\/h3>\n<p>Their study can give us some answers as to how the weird traits of the platypus arose.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Guojie Zhang is particularly amazed by the 10 sex chromosomes that the platypus turns out to have. We have two of them, but the platypus has 10, divided into five Y and five X chromosomes.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":115552,"id":115552,"title":"Professor Guojie Zhang forsker i n\u00e6bdyrs genom01","filename":"dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2.jpg","filesize":162782,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/hvem-sveder-maelk-og-har-selvlysende-pels-naebdyrets-genom-er-kortlagt\/_dsc6583_professor-guojie-zhang-forsker-i-naebdyrs-genom_web-3\/","alt":"Professor Guojie Zhang forsker i n\u00e6bdyrs genom01","author":"8","description":"Guojie Zhang fotograferet i Universitetsparken n\u00e6r sin arbejdsplads. Han kom til K\u00f8benhavns Universitet i 2012 og er kinesisk statsborger. ","caption":"Guojie Zhang fotograferet i Universitetsparken n\u00e6r sin arbejdsplads. Han kom til K\u00f8benhavns Universitet i 2012 og er kinesisk statsborger. ","name":"_dsc6583_professor-guojie-zhang-forsker-i-naebdyrs-genom_web-3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":115120,"date":"2021-01-19 11:16:05","modified":"2021-01-19 11:16:27","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1600,"height":1067,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-1280x854.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":854,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":1067,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6583_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-2-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Guojie Zhang in the Universitetsparken near his place of work. He came to the University of Copenhagen in 2012 and is a Chinese citizen."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>\u00bbThis is perhaps one of the most important results coming out of our study: that the platypus has 10 sex chromosomes. Our sequencing of them is of a very high quality, and it turns out that the platypus\u2019 sex chromosomes have nothing to do with the human ones, but correlate instead with the sex chromosomes of chickens. Platypuses in other words have bird-like sex chromosomes,\u00ab says Guojie Zhang.<\/p>\n<h3>The platypus has only one out of three sets of egg genes left<\/h3>\n<p><em>A platypus lays eggs, even though it is a mammal. Why do we humans no longer lay eggs?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThis is a difficult question to answer,\u00ab says Guojie Zhang, \u00bbbut our research has shown that the ancestors of humans and the ancestors of mammals had genes that were both able to form eggs and egg yolk. One of these genes is still active in the platypus, while humans have lost all three of them. Perhaps it is because we, as a species, became so skilled at taking care of our weak, newborn, young that we no longer had to lay eggs,\u00ab says Guojie Zhang.<\/p>\n<p>His research has also shown that the platypus carries a so-called vitellogenin gene, which it needs to form eggs and egg yolk, while modern day birds \u2013 like chickens \u2013 bear all three of the vitellogenin genes.<\/p>\n<p>According to Guojie Zhang, we do not know exactly when the platypus lost the two vitellogenin genes, but this may have happened about 180 million years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The platypus also has genes that allow it to produce milk for its young, after the eggs are hatched \u2013 even though the female does not have teets. The young lick the milk from the mother’s fur.<\/p>\n<h3>Incredible progress in genome sequencing<\/h3>\n<p>The platypus belongs to the group of the earliest mammals called monotremes, and the platypus, and its cousin the ant eater, are a part of the group. The animals use a single duct (the cloaca) for their urinary, defecatory, and reproductive systems.<\/p>\n<p>The sequencing of the platypus genome is 96 per cent complete. It took only six months to complete the platypus project, compared to the thirteen years it took to map out the human genome. The sequencing of the human genome lasted from 1990 to April 2003, and cost USD 2.7 billion.<\/p>\n<p>According to Guojie Zhang, the big difference is not so much that it is easier to map the genome of the platypus than the human.<\/p>\n<p>It is just that the scientific equipment that sequence whole genomes has got so much better since the beginning of the new millennium. A few researchers can now achieve the sequencing of a mammal\u2019s genome in six months and with a relatively modest budget of about EUR 8,000 \u2013 even though the final costs, according to Guojie Zhang, can vary greatly due to unforeseen expenses.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":115557,"id":115557,"title":"Professor Guojie Zhang forsker i n\u00e6bdyrs genom02","filename":"dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1.jpg","filesize":228052,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/hvem-sveder-maelk-og-har-selvlysende-pels-naebdyrets-genom-er-kortlagt\/_dsc6626_professor-guojie-zhang-forsker-i-naebdyrs-genom_web\/","alt":"Professor Guojie Zhang forsker i n\u00e6bdyrs genom02","author":"8","description":"I 2011 fik Guojie Zhang et Sir Frederik McMaster Visiting Fellowship og dermed chancen for at rejse rundt i verden til flere forskellige zoologiske haver og laboratorier \u2013 hvor han blandt andet s\u00e5 n\u00e6bdyret. Det inspirerede ham til at gennemf\u00f8re en unders\u00f8gelse af n\u00e6bdyrets genom, for som evolutionsforsker er han altid s\u00e6rlig interesseret i de arter, der kan virke som en slags n\u00f8gle til at kunne forst\u00e5 hele den evolution\u00e6re udvikling. ","caption":"I 2011 fik Guojie Zhang et Sir Frederik McMaster Visiting Fellowship og dermed chancen for at rejse rundt i verden til flere forskellige zoologiske haver og laboratorier, hvor n\u00e6bdyret fangede hans interesse. Det inspirerede ham til at gennemf\u00f8re en unders\u00f8gelse af n\u00e6bdyrets genom, for som evolutionsforsker er han altid s\u00e6rlig interesseret i de arter, der kan virke som en slags n\u00f8gle til at kunne forst\u00e5 hele den evolution\u00e6re udvikling. ","name":"_dsc6626_professor-guojie-zhang-forsker-i-naebdyrs-genom_web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":115120,"date":"2021-01-19 11:22:07","modified":"2021-01-20 09:37:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1067,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-480x720.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":720,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-768x1152.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1152,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1.jpg","large-width":1067,"large-height":1600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-1024x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1067,"2048x2048-height":1600,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-290x435.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":435,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-700x1050.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":1050,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dsc6626_professorguojiezhangforskerinaebdyrsgenom_web-1-990x1485.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":1485}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"In 2011, Guojie Zhang was granted a Sir Frederik McMaster Visiting Fellowship, and thereby the chance to travel around the world to several zoos and laboratories where the platypus caught his attention. This inspired him to conduct a study of the genome of the platypus. As a researcher of evolution, he is always particularly interested in the species that can act as a kind of cipher to unlock an understanding of the entire evolutionary development."},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get a bi-weekly newsletter in your inbox","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":830,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":4337,"name":"Guojie Zhang","slug":"guojie-zhang-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":4337,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":4347,"name":"platypus","slug":"platypus","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":4347,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":400,"name":"research","slug":"research","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":400,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":27,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11485,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/istock12127874751.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116052"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116107,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116052\/revisions\/116107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}