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A comparative study of the recombination pattern in three species of Platyrrhini monkeys (primates)

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Abstract

Homologous chromosomes exchange genetic information through recombination during meiotic synapsis, a process that increases genetic diversity and is fundamental to sexual reproduction. Meiotic studies in mammalian species are scarce and mainly focused on human and mouse. Here, the meiotic recombination events were determined in three species of Platyrrhini monkeys (Cebus libidinosus, Cebus nigritus and Alouatta caraya) by analysing the distribution of MLH1 foci at the stage of pachytene. Moreover, the combination of immunofluorescence and fluorescent in situ hybridisation has enabled us to construct recombination maps of primate chromosomes that are homologous to human chromosomes 13 and 21. Our results show that (a) the overall number of MLH1 foci varies among all three species, (b) the presence of heterochromatin blocks does not have a major influence on the distribution of MLH1 foci and (c) the distribution of crossovers in the homologous chromosomes to human chromosomes 13 and 21 are conserved between species of the same genus (C. libidinosus and C. nigritus) but are significantly different between Cebus and Alouatta. This heterogeneity in recombination behaviour among Ceboidea species may reflect differences in genetic diversity and genome composition.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. C. Heyting and Dr. M. Fritzler for their generous gifts of antibodies. We thank L.Uroz, G. Elkorchi and J. del Rey for technical support. Ignasi Roig is acknowledged for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript and Mariela Nieves for her suggestions on the last draft. We are also thankful to the editor and two anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions improved the manuscript. All research reported in this manuscript has met the appropriate national and institutional guidelines for the legal acquisition and use of laboratory animals and authorised study of wild animals. The authors also adhered to the Guide for Care and Use of Experimental Animals, as promulgated by the Canadian Council of Animal Care, and to the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) Principles for the Ethical Treatment of Non-human Primates. The work, which took place in Argentina, was done in accordance with the laws of Argentina. We have received funds from PCI2005-A7-O428, MDM PIP 5012, UBACyTX107, PRP2006-02, BFU2006-12951, 2009SGR1107 and CGL2010-20170. The English of this manuscript has been proofread by a native, English-speaking University Instructor of English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Biologia Cellular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB Campus, Bellaterra, 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Raquel Garcia-Cruz, Sarai Pacheco, Miguel Angel Brieño, Aurora Ruiz-Herrera & Montserrat Garcia-Caldés

  2. Institut de Biotecnologia i Biomedicina (IBB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB Campus, Bellaterra, 08193, Barcelona, Spain

    Aurora Ruiz-Herrera & Montserrat Garcia-Caldés

  3. Grupo de Investigación en Biología Evolutiva (GIBE), CONICET, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Eliana R. Steinberg & Marta D. Mudry

  4. Departament de Biologia Cellular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB Campus, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

    Aurora Ruiz-Herrera & Montserrat Garcia-Caldés

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  1. Raquel Garcia-Cruz
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  2. Sarai Pacheco
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  4. Eliana R. Steinberg
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  6. Aurora Ruiz-Herrera
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  7. Montserrat Garcia-Caldés
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Correspondence to Aurora Ruiz-Herrera or Montserrat Garcia-Caldés.

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Communicated by: S. Keeney

A. Ruiz-Herrera and M. Garcia-Caldés contributed equally to this work.

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Garcia-Cruz, R., Pacheco, S., Brieño, M.A. et al. A comparative study of the recombination pattern in three species of Platyrrhini monkeys (primates). Chromosoma 120, 521–530 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-011-0329-6

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