title: Chromosome size-correlated and chromosome size-uncorrelated homogenization of centromeric repetitive sequences in New World quails.
abstract: Many families of centromeric repetitive DNA sequences isolated from Struthioniformes, Galliformes, Falconiformes, and Passeriformes are localized primarily to microchromosomes. However, it is unclear whether chromosome size-correlated homogenization is a common characteristic of centromeric repetitive sequences in Aves. New World and Old World quails have the typical avian karyotype comprising chromosomes of two distinct sizes, and C-positive heterochromatin is distributed in centromeric regions of most autosomes and the whole W chromosome. We isolated six types of centromeric repetitive sequences from three New World quail species (Colinus virginianus, CVI; Callipepla californica, CCA; and Callipepla squamata, CSQ; Odontophoridae) and one Old World quail species (Alectoris chukar, ACH; Phasianidae), and characterized the sequences by nucleotide sequencing, chromosome in situ hybridization, and filter hybridization. The 385-bp CVI-MspI, 591-bp CCA-BamHI, 582-bp CSQ-BamHI, and 366-bp ACH-Sau3AI fragments exhibited tandem arrays of the monomer unit, and the 224-bp CVI-HaeIII and 135-bp CCA-HaeIII fragments were composed of minisatellite-like and microsatellite-like repeats, respectively. ACH-Sau3AI was a homolog of the chicken nuclear membrane repeat sequence, whose homologs are common in Phasianidae. CVI-MspI, CCA-BamHI, and CSQ-BamHI showed high homology and were specific to the Odontophoridae. CVI-MspI was localized to microchromosomes, whereas CVI-HaeIII, CCA-BamHI, and CSQ-BamHI were mapped to almost all chromosomes. CCA-HaeIII was localized to five pairs of macrochromosomes and most microchromosomes. ACH-Sau3AI was distributed in three pairs of macrochromosomes and all microchromosomes. Centromeric repetitive sequences may be homogenized in chromosome size-correlated and -uncorrelated manners in New World quails, although there may be a mechanism that causes homogenization of centromeric repetitive sequences primarily between microchromosomes, which is commonly observed in phasianid birds.
authors: Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Department of Applied Molecular Biosciences, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8601, Japan.
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Ishishita
authors: Yuri
authors: Y
authors: Tsuruta
authors: Yoshinobu
authors: Y
authors: Uno
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Nakamura
authors: Chizuko
authors: C
authors: Nishida
authors: Darren K
authors: DK
authors: Griffin
authors: Masaoki
authors: M
authors: Tsudzuki
authors: Tamao
authors: T
authors: Ono
authors: Yoichi
authors: Y
authors: Matsuda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002503:Centromere / Q000235:genetics*; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000662:veterinary; D059785:Karyotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011784:Quail / Q000235:genetics*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013045:Species Specificity