title: Karyotype evolution and phylogenetic relationships of hamsters (Cricetidae, Muroidea, Rodentia) inferred from chromosomal painting and banding comparison.
abstract: The evolutionary success of rodents of the superfamily Muroidea makes this taxon the most interesting for evolution studies, including study at the chromosomal level. Chromosome-specific painting probes from the Chinese hamster and the Syrian (golden) hamster were used to delimit homologous chromosomal segments among 15 hamster species from eight genera: Allocricetulus, Calomyscus, Cricetulus, Cricetus, Mesocricetus, Peromyscus, Phodopus and Tscherskia (Cricetidae, Muroidea, Rodentia). Based on results of chromosome painting and G-banding, comparative maps between 20 rodent species have been established. The integrated maps demonstrate a high level of karyotype conservation among species in the Cricetus group (Cricetus, Cricetulus, Allocricetulus) with Tscherskia as its sister group. Species within the genera Mesocricetus and Phodopus also show a high degree of chromosomal conservation. Our results substantiate many of the conclusions suggested by other data and strengthen the topology of the Muroidea phylogenetic tree through the inclusion of genome-wide chromosome rearrangements. The derivation of the muroids karyotypes from the putative ancestral state involved centric fusions, fissions, addition of heterochromatic arms and a great number of inversions. Our results provide further insights into the karyotype relationships of all species investigated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cytology and Genetics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia. graf@bionet.nsc.ru
authors.forename: Svetlana A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Romanenko
authors.forename: Vitaly T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Volobouev
authors.forename: Polina L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Perelman
authors.forename: Vladimir S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lebedev
authors.forename: Natalya A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Serdukova
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Trifonov
authors.forename: Larisa S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Biltueva
authors.forename: Wenhui
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Patricia C M
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Nina Sh
authors.initials: NSh
authors.lastname: Bulatova
authors.forename: Malcolm A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferguson-Smith
authors.forename: Fengtang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Graphodatsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D020223:Chromosome Painting; D006224:Cricetinae; D020732:Cytogenetic Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D007621:Karyotyping; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010802:Phylogeny