Nuclear mitochondrial sequences in great ape telomere-to-telomere genomes.

NUMTs in great ape genomes accurately reflect species relationships and are enriched in nonfunctional regions, with a notable 76-kb heterozygous NUMT identified in chimpanzees.

• Why it matters: Understanding NUMTs is crucial because they confound mitochondrial DNA analysis and influence genome evolution, yet their distribution and dynamics across great ape species remain unclear.
• What they did: The study analyzed T2T genomes from six great ape species, identifying shared and lineage-specific NUMTs, validating a large heterozygous NUMT in chimpanzees, and examining NUMT expansion on the Y chromosome.
• The result: Most species-specific NUMTs are fixed or at high frequency within species, indicating their role as a dynamic evolutionary force shaping ape genomes and aiding mtDNA characterization.