Diversity and distribution of alpha satellite DNA in the genome of an Old World monkey: Cercopithecus solatus

Abstract

BackgroundAlpha satellite is the major repeated DNA element of primate centromeres. Evolution of these tandemly repeated sequences has led to the existence of numerous families of monomers exhibiting specific organizational patterns. The limited amount of information available in non-human primates is a restriction to the understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of alpha satellite DNA.ResultsWe carried out the targeted high-throughput sequencing of alpha satellite monomers and dimers from the Cercopithecus solatus genome, an Old World monkey from the Cercopithecini tribe. Computational approaches were used to infer the existence of sequence families and to study how these families are organized with respect to each other. While previous studies had suggested that alpha satellites in Old World monkeys were poorly diversified, our analysis provides evidence for the existence of at least four distinct families of sequences within the studied species and of higher order organizational patterns. Fluorescence in situ hybridization using oligonucleotide probes that are able to target each family in a specific way showed that the different families had distinct distributions on chromosomes and were not homogeneously distributed between chromosomes.ConclusionsOur new approach provides an unprecedented and comprehensive view of the diversity and organization of alpha satellites in a species outside the hominoid group. We consider these data with respect to previously known alpha satellite families and to potential mechanisms for satellite DNA evolution. Applying this approach to other species will open new perspectives regarding the integration of satellite DNA into comparative genomic and cytogenetic studies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3246-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The structure, function, and evolution of a complete human chromosome 8

“…11,12). Analysis of each nonhuman primate (NHP) chromosome 8 centromere reveals distinct HOR patterns ranging in size from 1.69 Mbp in chimpanzee to 10.92 Mbp in macaque, consistent with estimates from short-read sequence data and cytogenetic analyses 33,34 (Fig. 4).…”

Birth, evolution, and transmission of satellite-free mammalian centromeric domains

“…Although the systems and the time scale are extremely different, similar recombination-based mechanisms (Mondello et al 2010) might generate novel satellite DNA families following amplification of large segments at neocentromeres. We propose that, in early stages of centromere formation, tandem duplications may arise and evolve through recombination-based meiotic or mitotic mechanisms as demonstrated for primate alpha-satellite families (Schueler and Sullivan 2006;Cacheux et al 2016).…”

Satellite DNA: An Evolving Topic

“…However, the similarity is higher than 95% when a monomeric unit of one multiple unit is compared to a counterpart monomer (located at the same position) in another multiple unit [ 38 , 93 , 94 ]. HOR organization is found at the centromere of human chromosomes while the pericentromeric heterochromatin is composed of single alpha satDNA monomers (50–100% sequence identity), which can coexist with HORs [ 70 , 71 , 96 , 97 , 98 ]. Different chromosome-specific alpha-satellite subfamilies have been described in humans, characterized by HOR organization plus their related monomer sequences [ 93 , 94 , 99 , 100 ].…”