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Chromosomal evolution of Arvicolinae (Cricetidae, Rodentia). III. Karyotype relationships of ten Microtus species

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Abstract

The genus Microtus consists of 65 extant species, making it one of the rodentia genera with the highest number of species. The extreme karyotype diversification in Microtus has made them an ideal species group for comparative cytogenetics and cytotaxonomy. Conventional comparative cytogenetic studies in Microtus have been based mainly on chromosomal banding patterns; the number of Microtus species examined by molecular cytogenetics—cross-species chromosome painting—is limited. In this study, we used whole chromosome painting probes of the field vole Microtus agrestis to detect regions of homology in the karyotypes of eight Microtus species. For almost all investigated species, species-specific associations of conserved chromosomal segments were revealed. Analysis of data obtained here and previously published data allowed us to propose that the ancestral Microtus species had a 2n = 54 karyotype, including two associations of field vole chromosomal segments (MAG 1/17 and 2/8). Further mapping of the chromosome rearrangements onto a molecular phylogenetic tree allows the reconstruction of a karyotype evolution pathway in the Microtus genus.

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Abbreviations

2n :

Diploid number of chromosomes

AMiK:

Ancestral karyotype of genus Microtus

ETA:

Ellobius talpinus

FISH:

Fluorescent in situ hybridization

GTG banding:

G-banding by trypsin using Giemsa

MARA:

M. arvalis “arvalis”

MAG:

M. agrestis

MDA:

M. daghestanicus

MDO:

M. dogramacii

MGR:

M. gregalis

MGUG:

M. guentheri guentheri

MMA:

M. maximowiczii

MOE:

M. oeconomus

MRO:

M. rossiaemeridionalis

MSO:

M. socialis

MY:

Million years

NFa:

Fundamental autosomal number

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded in part by research grants from MCB and SB RAS Programs, Russian Fund for Basic Research: 09-04-00851-а (A.S.G.), and Russian Federation President’s grant: MK-2241.2009.4 (S.A.R). The Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust (MAFS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    Natalia A. Lemskaya, Svetlana A. Romanenko, Natalya A. Serdukova & Alexander S. Graphodatsky

  2. Zoological Institute, RAS, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    Feodor N. Golenishchev

  3. Institute of Cytology and Genetics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Nadezhda V. Rubtsova

  4. Specialized Educational Scientific Center, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Olga V. Sablina

  5. Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 OES, UK

    Patricia C. M. O’Brien, Beiyuan Fu & Malcolm A. Ferguson-Smith

  6. Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey

    Nuri Yiğit

  7. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK

    Fengtang Yang

Authors
  1. Natalia A. Lemskaya
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  2. Svetlana A. Romanenko
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  3. Feodor N. Golenishchev
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  4. Nadezhda V. Rubtsova
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  5. Olga V. Sablina
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  6. Natalya A. Serdukova
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  7. Patricia C. M. O’Brien
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  8. Beiyuan Fu
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  9. Nuri Yiğit
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  10. Malcolm A. Ferguson-Smith
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  11. Fengtang Yang
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  12. Alexander S. Graphodatsky
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Svetlana A. Romanenko.

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Responsible Editor: Yoichi Matsuda.

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Lemskaya, N.A., Romanenko, S.A., Golenishchev, F.N. et al. Chromosomal evolution of Arvicolinae (Cricetidae, Rodentia). III. Karyotype relationships of ten Microtus species. Chromosome Res 18, 459–471 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-010-9124-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-010-9124-0

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