Cited by 373Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalitiesChromosomal and Genetic VariationsGenome Rearrangement Algorithms

Segmental duplications and their variation in a complete human genome

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Vollger, Mitchell R., Guitart, Xavi, Dishuck, Philip C., Mercuri, Ludovica, Harvey, William T., Gershman, Ariel, Diekhans, Mark, Sulovari, Arvis +12 more·2022·Science

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Abstract

Despite their importance in disease and evolution, highly identical segmental duplications (SDs) are among the last regions of the human reference genome (GRCh38) to be fully sequenced. Using a complete telomere-to-telomere human genome (T2T-CHM13), we present a comprehensive view of human SD organization. SDs account for nearly one-third of the additional sequence, increasing the genome-wide estimate from 5.4 to 7.0% [218 million base pairs (Mbp)]. An analysis of 268 human genomes shows that 91% of the previously unresolved T2T-CHM13 SD sequence (68.3 Mbp) better represents human copy number variation. Comparing long-read assemblies from human ( n = 12) and nonhuman primate ( n = 5) genomes, we systematically reconstruct the evolution and structural haplotype diversity of biomedically relevant and duplicated genes. This analysis reveals patterns of structural heterozygosity and evolutionary differences in SD organization between humans and other primates.

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  • Collapsed segmental duplications in GRCh38 and GRCh37, such as the GPRIN2A/B region, often result in erroneous variant calls.

    “Furthermore, collapsed segmental duplications in GRCh38 and GRCh37, such as the GPRIN2A/B region [28, 38], often result in erroneous variant calls.”

    From A refined analysis of Neanderthal-introgressed sequences in modern humans with a complete reference genome (2025) · cites this paper as [28]

    The Results section ('Single-nucleotide and copy number variation within SDs'; page unavailable) reports that GRCh38 tends to underestimate normal human copy number in non-syntenic segmental duplications. That supports a reference-assembly problem, but our copy does not identify GPRIN2A/B or GRCh37, or establish that collapsed duplications often cause erroneous variant calls. (LLM, conf=0.81)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [25]Supplementary materials and methods for segmental duplications and their variation in a complete human genome. PMC8979283 35357917
  2. [99]Standing Committee on Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature, ISCN 1995: An International System for Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature (1995): Recommendations of the International Standing Committee on Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, October 9–13, 1994 (Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers, 1995).
  3. [116]Vollger, Assemblies and data generated for “SEGMENTAL DUPLICATIONS AND THEIR VARIATION IN A COMPLETE HUMAN GENOME” (2021), doi: 10.5281/ZENODO.4721956. PMC8979283 35357917 · DOI

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Authors
Vollger, M. R., Guitart, X., Dishuck, P. C., Mercuri, L., Harvey, W. T., Gershman, A., Diekhans, M., Sulovari, A., Munson, K. M., Lewis, A. P., Hoekzema, K., Porubsky, D., Li, R., Nurk, S., Koren, S., Miga, K. H., Phillippy, A. M., Timp, W., Ventura, M., & Eichler, E. E.
Affiliations
  • University of Washington (US)
  • University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT)
  • Johns Hopkins University (US)
  • University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
  • Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Eichler, Evan E.
Venue
Science
Published
2022-04
Volume
376
Issue
6588
Pages
eabj6965-eabj6965
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W4225379371
Cited by
350
References
118
Citations by year
2026: 51 · 2025: 81 · 2024: 98 · 2023: 73 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 5
FWCI
47.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • CINECA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (University of Bari Aldo Moro) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Oxford Nanopore Technologies
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (U01HG010973, U01HG010971, U41HG007234, R01HG009190, R01HG011274, R01HG002385, U24HG007234)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM007445)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genome Rearrangement Algorithms
Keywords
segmental duplication, human genome, telomere-to-telomere genome assembly, T2T-CHM13, copy number variation, structural heterozygosity, duplicate genes, long-read genome assembly, genome evolution
MeSH terms
Humans, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Genome, Human, Evolution, Molecular, Gene Duplication, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, GTPase-Activating Proteins, DNA Copy Number Variations, Segmental Duplications, Genomic

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