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Identification of the linkage group of the Z sex chromosomes of the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis, Lacertidae) and elucidation of karyotype evolution in lacertid lizards

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Abstract

The sand lizard (Lacerta agilis, Lacertidae) has a chromosome number of 2n = 38, with 17 pairs of acrocentric chromosomes, one pair of microchromosomes, a large acrocentric Z chromosome, and a micro-W chromosome. To investigate the process of karyotype evolution in L. agilis, we performed chromosome banding and fluorescent in situ hybridization for gene mapping and constructed a cytogenetic map with 86 functional genes. Chromosome banding revealed that the Z chromosome is the fifth largest chromosome. The cytogenetic map revealed homology of the L. agilis Z chromosome with chicken chromosomes 6 and 9. Comparison of the L. agilis cytogenetic map with those of four Toxicofera species with many microchromosomes (Elaphe quadrivirgata, Varanus salvator macromaculatus, Leiolepis reevesii rubritaeniata, and Anolis carolinensis) showed highly conserved linkage homology of L. agilis chromosomes (LAG) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(Z), 7, 8, 9, and 10 with macrochromosomes and/or macrochromosome segments of the four Toxicofera species. Most of the genes located on the microchromosomes of Toxicofera were localized to LAG6, small acrocentric chromosomes (LAG11–18), and a microchromosome (LAG19) in L. agilis. These results suggest that the L. agilis karyotype resulted from frequent fusions of microchromosomes, which occurred in the ancestral karyotype of Toxicofera and led to the disappearance of microchromosomes and the appearance of many small macrochromosomes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (No. 23113004) and Scientific Research (B) (No. 22370081) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Department of Applied Molecular Biosciences, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Kornsorn Srikulnath, Yoshinobu Uno & Yoichi Matsuda

  2. Laboratory of Animal Cytogenetics and Comparative Genomics, Department of Genetics, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, 50 Ngamwongwan, Chatuchak, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand

    Kornsorn Srikulnath

  3. Center for Advanced Studies in Tropical Natural Resources, National Research University-Kasetsart University, Kasetsart University, (CASTNAR, NRU-KU,Thailand), Bangkok, Thailand

    Kornsorn Srikulnath

  4. Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Kazumi Matsubara

  5. Department of Natural History Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan

    Chizuko Nishida

  6. School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Heydon-Laurence Bldg AO8, Science Rd., Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Mats Olsson

  7. Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, PO Box 463, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Mats Olsson

Authors
  1. Kornsorn Srikulnath
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  2. Kazumi Matsubara
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  3. Yoshinobu Uno
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  4. Chizuko Nishida
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  5. Mats Olsson
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  6. Yoichi Matsuda
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Kornsorn Srikulnath or Yoichi Matsuda.

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Srikulnath, K., Matsubara, K., Uno, Y. et al. Identification of the linkage group of the Z sex chromosomes of the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis, Lacertidae) and elucidation of karyotype evolution in lacertid lizards. Chromosoma 123, 563–575 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-014-0467-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-014-0467-8

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