A complete genome for the common marmoset.

August 6, 2026| Source: Cell

The common marmoset is a New World monkey widely used to study primate evolution and human disease. We present a telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference assembly for the species, plus three near-T2T haplotypes. These resolve previously inaccessible regions, including the centromeres, sex chromosomes, subterminal satellites, acrocentric chromosomes, and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). We find marmoset centromeres carry dimeric alpha satellites with chromosomal specificity, flanked by inactive layers interpreted as ancestral centromere remnants. We assemble gene-poor, satellite-rich short arms of the acrocentrics and find that most can harbor rDNA and all share pseudo-homolog regions (PHRs). PHR-sharing chromosomes also share closely related centromeric satellites, consistent with a model of ongoing rDNA-facilitated recombinational exchange between heterologous chromosomes. We further identify over 500 marmoset-lineage-specific transcribed genes with previously unknown transcript models or expansions. These resources, along with a preliminary pangenome, improve the utility of the marmoset as a model organism and address gaps in primate genome evolution.

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