Abstract
The evolution of genome size has been discussed in relation to the evolution of various biological traits. In the present study, the genome sizes of 22 dictyopteran species were estimated by Feulgen image analysis densitometry and 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-based flow cytometry. The haploid genome sizes (C-values) of termites (Isoptera) ranged from 0.58 to 1.90 pg, and those of Cryptocercus wood roaches (Cryptocercidae) were 1.16 to 1.32 pg. Compared to known values of other cockroaches (Blattaria) and mantids (Mantodea), these values are low. A relatively small genome size appears to be a (syn)apomorphy of Isoptera + Cryptocercus, together with their sociality. In some phylogenetic groups, genome size evolution is thought to be influenced by selective pressure on a particular trait, such as cell size or rate of development. The present results raise the possibility that genome size is influenced by selective pressures on traits associated with the evolution of sociality.
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Acknowledgment
We are grateful to four anonymous referees for providing valuable suggestions. We thank N. Lo for improving the manuscript, M. Ohara and S. Kubota for instruction on flow cytometry, T.A. Evans, C. Bordereau, Y.C. Park, C. Nalepa and M. Hojo for providing samples, and K. Maekawa, A. Fujita, S. Hongo, Y. Nakamura, Y. Ishikawa and A. Ishikawa for their assistance in field sampling and advices during the study. Drosophila melanogaster Oregon R was kindly provided by T. Ide at Drosophila Stock Room of Tokyo Metropolitan University and K. Yoshida at Hokkaido University. This work was supported by KAKENHI (Nos. 18047002 and 18370007). The first and second authors were supported by JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists. All research reported in this paper complies with the present laws of Japan.
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Koshikawa, S., Miyazaki, S., Cornette, R. et al. Genome size of termites (Insecta, Dictyoptera, Isoptera) and wood roaches (Insecta, Dictyoptera, Cryptocercidae). Naturwissenschaften 95, 859–867 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0395-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0395-7