Interspecies Chromosome Mapping in Caprimulgiformes, Piciformes, Suliformes, and Trogoniformes (Aves): Cytogenomic Insight into Microchromosome Organization and Karyotype Evolution in Birds

oleh: Rafael Kretschmer, Marcelo Santos de Souza, Ivanete de Oliveira Furo, Michael N. Romanov, Ricardo José Gunski, Analía del Valle Garnero, Thales Renato Ochotorena de Freitas, Edivaldo Herculano Corrêa de Oliveira, Rebecca E. O’Connor, Darren K. Griffin

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-04-01

Deskripsi

Interchromosomal rearrangements involving microchromosomes are rare events in birds. To date, they have been found mostly in Psittaciformes, Falconiformes, and Cuculiformes, although only a few orders have been analyzed. Hence, cytogenomic studies focusing on microchromosomes in species belonging to different bird orders are essential to shed more light on the avian chromosome and karyotype evolution. Based on this, we performed a comparative chromosome mapping for chicken microchromosomes 10 to 28 using interspecies BAC-based FISH hybridization in five species, representing four Neoaves orders (Caprimulgiformes, Piciformes, Suliformes, and Trogoniformes). Our results suggest that the ancestral microchromosomal syntenies are conserved in <i>Pteroglossus inscriptus</i> (Piciformes), <i>Ramphastos tucanus tucanus</i> (Piciformes), and <i>Trogon surrucura surrucura</i> (Trogoniformes). On the other hand, chromosome reorganization in <i>Phalacrocorax brasilianus</i> (Suliformes) and <i>Hydropsalis torquata</i> (Caprimulgiformes) included fusions involving both macro- and microchromosomes. Fissions in macrochromosomes were observed in <i>P</i>. <i>brasilianus</i> and <i>H</i>. <i>torquata</i>. Relevant hypothetical Neognathae and Neoaves ancestral karyotypes were reconstructed to trace these rearrangements. We found no interchromosomal rearrangement involving microchromosomes to be shared between avian orders where rearrangements were detected. Our findings suggest that convergent evolution involving microchromosomal change is a rare event in birds and may be appropriate in cytotaxonomic inferences in orders where these rearrangements occurred.