The presence of the ancestral insect telomeric motif in kissing bugs (Triatominae) rules out the hypothesis of its loss in evolutionarily advanced Heteroptera (Cimicomorpha).
Next-generation sequencing data analysis onTriatoma infestansKlug, 1834 (Heteroptera, Cimicomorpha, Reduviidae) revealed the presence of the ancestral insect (TTAGG)ntelomeric motif in its genome. Fluorescencein situhybridization confirms that chromosomes bear this telomeric sequence in their chromosomal ends. Furthermore, motif amount estimation was about 0.03% of the total genome, so that the average telomere length in each chromosomal end is almost 18 kb long. We also detected the presence of (TTAGG)ntelomeric repeat in mitotic and meiotic chromosomes in other three species of Triatominae:Triatoma dimidiataLatreille, 1811,Dipetalogaster maximaUhler, 1894, andRhodnius prolixusStåhl, 1859. This is the first report of the (TTAGG)ntelomeric repeat in the infraorder Cimicomorpha, contradicting the currently accepted hypothesis that evolutionarily recent heteropterans lack this ancestral insect telomeric sequence.
Sección Genética Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Sebastián
S
Pita
Sección Genética Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Francisco
F
Panzera
Departamento de Biología Experimental, Área de Genética, Universidad de Jaén, Jaen, Spain.
Pablo
P
Mora
Departamento de Biología Experimental, Área de Genética, Universidad de Jaén, Jaen, Spain.
Jesús
J
Vela
Departamento de Biología Experimental, Área de Genética, Universidad de Jaén, Jaen, Spain.
Teresa
T
Palomeque
Departamento de Biología Experimental, Área de Genética, Universidad de Jaén, Jaen, Spain.
Pedro
P
Lorite
(TTAGG)n; Cimicomorpha; NGS; holocentric chromosomes; kissing bugs; telomeres