Extensive X-linked adaptive evolution in central chimpanzees

This article is brand new this week! The autosomes and X chromosomes of 12 chimpanzees were tested for protein-coding polymorphisms. The researchers found that on the X chromosome, as many as 30% of the amino acid substitutions are adaptive. They compared this level of substitution with the autosomes and found that the autosomes had much fewer adaptive substitutions, with the exception of selective sweeps on immunity genes. They then compared their results to those of humans and found stronger purifying selection in the chimpanzee, especially on the X chromosome.