Chromosome Painting in <b><i>Vanellus chilensis</i></b>: Detection of a Fusion Common to Clade Charadrii (Charadriiformes)

Abstract

The Southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis) is endemic to America and is well-known because of the vast expansion of its geographical distribution and its involvement in air accidents. Despite its popularity, there is no information concerning the genomic organization and karyotype of this species. Hence, because other species of the genus Vanellus have variable diploid numbers from 2n = 58 to 76, the aim of this report was to analyze the karyotype of V. chilensis by means of classical and molecular cytogenetics. We found that 2n = 78 and chromosome painting using probes of Gallus gallus (GGA) and Leucopternis albicollis revealed an organization similar to the avian putative ancestral karyotype, except for the fusion of GGA7 and GGA8, also found in Burhinus oedicnemus, the only Charadriiforme species analyzed by FISH so far. This rearrangement may represent a cytogenetic signature for this group and, in addition, must be responsible for the difference between the diploid number found in the avian putative ancestral karyotype (2n = 80) and V. chilensis (2n = 78).

The Karyotype of the Hoatzin (<b><i>Opisthocomus hoazin</i></b>) - A Phylogenetic Enigma of the Neornithes

“…Some species of Gruiformes and Charadriiformes, which form a clade with Opisthocomiformes according to whole-genome analysis [Jarvis et al, 2014;Cracraft et al, 2015], have been analyzed by chromosome painting. These studies revealed the presence of a few chromosome synapomorphies which reinforced the monophyly of each order [Nanda et al, 2011;Furo et al, 2015b;Kretschmer et al, 2015b]. For instance, the fission of the syntenic group corresponding to GGA5q represented a synapomorphy for Gruiformes species.…”

“…For instance, the fission of the syntenic group corresponding to GGA5q represented a synapomorphy for Gruiformes species. The fusion between syntenic groups corresponding to GGA7 and GGA8 was found in the only 2 species of Charadriiformes analyzed by FISH, despite the huge difference in their diploid numbers (2n = 42 in B. oedicnemus and 2n = 82 in Vanellus chilensis ), and might represent a chromosome signature for the clade Charadrii [Nie et al, 2009;Kretschmer et al, 2015b]. However, none of these rearrangements were found in the hoatzin.…”

“…This is also the case for species that have been placed as sister groups of Opisthocomiformes, including turacos [Van Tuinen and Valentine, 1986], cuckoos [Stock and Mengden, 1975; Wald- Ferrari, 1980Ferrari, , 1982, Charadriiformes [Hammar, 1970;Ledesma et al, 2005;Kretschmer et al, 2015b], and Gruiformes [Furo et al, 2015b]. However, there are a number of chromosomal rearrangements involving syntenic groups corresponding to chicken macrochromosomes.…”

Chromosomal painting of the sandpiper (Actitis macularius) detects several fissions for the Scolopacidae family (Charadriiformes)

“…BOE5 was divided into two pairs, AMA7 and AMA8, but this was not by ssion. Cytogenetic studies demonstrated that the fusion of PAK7 and PAK8 is a characteristic of suborder Charadrii [21]; the presence of the separate chromosomal pairs in Actitis is the ancestral form, and BOE5 is the derived form (Fig. 4E).…”

“…2) Larus argentatus (LAR, 2n = 70) was hybridized with BOE probes, which demonstrated several associations (e.g., BOE6 / BOE10 and BOE7 / BOE9) that were proposed as signatures for suborder Lari [20]. 3) Vanellus chilensis (VCH, 2n = 78) was hybridized with GGA probes; this demonstrated the fusion of GGA 7 and GGA 8, which was proposed as a possible common characteristic in suborder Charadrii [21]. 4) Jacana jacana (JJA, 2n = 82), which was also hybridized with GGA probes and presented numerous ssions and fusions, demonstrating that JJA had undergone extensive genomic reorganization [8].…”