Satellite DNA in Neotropical Deer Species

Abstract

The taxonomy and phylogenetics of Neotropical deer have been mostly based on morphological criteria and needs a critical revision on the basis of new molecular and cytogenetic markers. In this study, we used the variation in the sequence, copy number, and chromosome localization of satellite I-IV DNA to evaluate evolutionary relationships among eight Neotropical deer species. Using FISH with satI-IV probes derived from Mazama gouazoubira, we proved the presence of satellite DNA blocks in peri/centromeric regions of all analyzed deer. Satellite DNA was also detected in the interstitial chromosome regions of species of the genus Mazama with highly reduced chromosome numbers. In contrast to Blastocerus dichotomus, Ozotoceros bezoarticus, and Odocoileus virginianus, Mazama species showed high abundance of satIV DNA by FISH. The phylogenetic analysis of the satellite DNA showed close relationships between O. bezoarticus and B. dichotomus. Furthermore, the Neotropical and Nearctic populations of O. virginianus formed a single clade. However, the satellite DNA phylogeny did not allow resolving the relationships within the genus Mazama. The high abundance of the satellite DNA in centromeres probably contributes to the formation of chromosomal rearrangements, thus leading to a fast and ongoing speciation in this genus, which has not yet been reflected in the satellite DNA sequence diversification.

Revalidation of Mazama rufa (Illiger 1815) (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) as a Distinct Species out of the Complex Mazama americana (Erxleben 1777)

“…Mitochondrial genes have been systematically used in several works that aimed to recover the phylogenetic relationships among species of the tribe Odocoileini in the last 2 decades ( Gilbert et al, 2006 ; Duarte et al, 2008 ; Gutiérrez et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Escobedo-Morales et al, 2016 ; Heckeberg et al, 2016 ; Cifuentes-Rincón et al, 2020 ; Heckeberg, 2020 ). Some studies tested the use of nuclear regions (a-lactalbumin; protein kinase C iota; satellite DNA) but they were not informative in recovering phylogenetic relationships between recently divergent species ( Gilbert et al, 2006 ; Heckeberg, 2020 ; Vozdova et al, 2021 ). Although the present work brought the widest sampling (number of vouchers and mitochondrial sequence size) in the M. americana complex, it still represents a single-locus analysis that limits interpretation of the results, given that mtDNA gene-tree may underestimate introgression and hybridization processes ( Shaw, 2002 ).…”

The Cytogenetic Map of the Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus, Crocodylidae, Reptilia) with Fluorescence In Situ Localization of Major Repetitive DNAs

“…Tandem repeats content is well investigated in the genomes of only such vertebrates as humans, mice, and some birds [ 30 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. The number of works on other species is steadily increasing (e.g., [ 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]). Tandem repeats are highly prevalent at centromeres of both animal and plant genomes, but the repeat monomers vary greatly in composition and sequence length [ 51 ].…”

Chromosomal Rearrangements and Satellite DNAs: Extensive Chromosome Reshuffling and the Evolution of Neo-Sex Chromosomes in the Genus Pyrrhulina (Teleostei; Characiformes)

“…Satellite DNAs (satDNAs) are one of the most common repeated sequences, forming extensive arrays of largely similar repeating units (monomers) that make up a significant percentage of genomes (reviewed in [ 10 ]). Recently, given the integration of cytogenetics with high-throughput sequencing data from next-generation sequencing methods (NGS), the whole collection of different satDNA families (satellitome) of several species has been characterized, providing insights into several evolutionary issues, such as karyotype evolution, genome diversity, and phylogenetic relationships [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. These satellites (satDNAs) are also thought to play a role in the evolution and structure of sex chromosomes, as well as chromosome-based speciation [ 13 , 14 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”