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Chromosome analysis of five Brazilian species of poison frogs (Anura: Dendrobatidae)

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Abstract

Dendrobatid frogs have undergone an extensive systematic reorganization based on recent molecular findings. The present work describes karyotypes of the Brazilian species Adelphobates castaneoticus, A. quinquevittatus, Ameerega picta, A. galactonotus and Dendrobates tinctorius which were compared to each other and with previously described related species. All karyotypes consisted of 2n = 18 chromosomes, except for A. picta which had 2n = 24. The karyotypes of the Adelphobates and D. tinctorius species were highly similar to each other and to the other 2n = 18 previously studied species, revealing conserved karyotypic characteristics in both genera. In recent phylogenetic studies, all Adelphobates species were grouped in a clade separated from the Dendrobates species. Thus, we hypothesized that their common karyotypic traits may have a distinct origin by chromosome rearrangements and mutations. In A. picta, with 2n = 24, chromosome features of pairs from 1 to 8 are shared with other previously karyotyped species within this genus. Hence, the A. picta data reinforced that the C-banding pattern and the NOR location are species-specific traits in the genus Ameerega. Moreover, the Ameerega monophyletism proposed by previous phylogenetic studies indicates that the karyotypic differences among species in this genus result from a long divergence time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Anatomia, Biologia Celular e Fisiologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-863, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    PAULA CAMARGO RODRIGUES, FLÁVIA SERPIERI & SHIRLEI MARIA RECCO-PIMENTEL

  2. Departamento de Biociências, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, 11060-001, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil

    ODAIR AGUIAR

  3. Coordenadoria de Pesquisas em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas do Amazonas, 69011-970, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

    ALBERTINA PIMENTEL LIMA

  4. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, 70070-900, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

    MASAO UETANEBARO

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  1. PAULA CAMARGO RODRIGUES
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  2. ODAIR AGUIAR
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  3. FLÁVIA SERPIERI
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  4. ALBERTINA PIMENTEL LIMA
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  5. MASAO UETANEBARO
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  6. SHIRLEI MARIA RECCO-PIMENTEL
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Correspondence to SHIRLEI MARIA RECCO-PIMENTEL.

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[Rodrigues P. C., Aguiar O., Serpieri F., Lima A. P., Uetanebaro M. and Recco-Pimentel S. M. 2011 Chromosome analysis of five Brazilian species of poison frogs (Anura: Dendrobatidae). J. Genet. 90, 31–37]

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RODRIGUES, P.C., AGUIAR, O., SERPIERI, F. et al. Chromosome analysis of five Brazilian species of poison frogs (Anura: Dendrobatidae). J Genet 90, 31–37 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-011-0023-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-011-0023-8

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