Karyotype and male meiosis in Spartocera batatas and meiotic behaviour of multiple sex chromosomes in Coreidae (Heteroptera)

Abstract

Abstract. The Coreidae (Heteroptera) have holokinetic chromosomes and during male meiosis the autosomal bivalents segregate reductionally at anaphase I while the sex chromosomes do so equationally. The modal diploid chromosome number of the family is 2n = 21, with a pair of m-chromosomes and an X0/XX sex chromosome system. A 2n = 24/26 (male/female) and an X1X20/X1X1X2X2 sex chromosome system were found in Spartocera batatas (Fabricius). C-banding and fluorescent-banding revealed the presence of AT-rich heterochromatic bands medially located on all the autosomes, and one telomeric band on both the X1 and X2 chromosomes. This banding pattern differed from the telomeric heterochromatin distribution found in most other heteropteran species. The X1 and X2 chromosomes were intimately associated during male meiosis and difficult to recognize as two separate entities. Based on a comparison with the behaviour of sex chromosomes in other coreids and other heteopterans with multiple sex chromosomes it is suggested that the particular behaviour of X1 and X2 chromosomes in coreid species with multiple sex chromosome systems evolved as an alternative mechanism for ensuring the proper segregation of the sex chromosomes during meiosis.

First report on a multiple sex chromosome system (X₁X₂X₃0) and population variations in the frequency of ring bivalents in Pyrrhocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)

“…The presence of multiple X chromosomes is not uncommon in Pyrrhocoridae (Mendes, 1947;Ray-Chaudhuri & Manna, 1952;Parshad, 1957;Sharma et al, 1957;Banerjee, 1958;RayChaudhuri & Banerjee, 1959;Suman, 2010), and the Xs usually remain associated closely or fused during the diffuse stage but become well separated during diplotene and metaphase I, and thus are distinct. The intimate association of the X chromosomes almost throughout meiosis in O. nigricornis is the first record for Pyrrhocoridae, although this condition has earlier been recorded in two coreid species, Spartocera fusca (Thunberg) and Spartocera batatas (Fabricius) by Cattani & Papeschi (2004) and Franco et al (2006), respectively. In fact, Cattani & Papeschi (2004) described a single X chromosome showing a particular morphology (butterfly-shaped) in S. fusca.…”

“…In fact, Cattani & Papeschi (2004) described a single X chromosome showing a particular morphology (butterfly-shaped) in S. fusca. In their paper, the authors failed to differentiate both X chromosomes, but Franco et al (2006) re-examined the male and female gonial prometaphases of S. fusca and confirmed the sex chromosome constitution, i.e. X 1 X 2 0/X 1 X 1 X 2 X 2 , male/female.…”

“…This kind of sex chromosome behavior has earlier been reported in pyrrhocorid species with a single X such as O. sexpunctatus and Antilochus conqueberti (Fabricius) (Banerjee, 1958 (Ray-Chaudhuri & Manna, 1952;Parshad, 1957;Sharma et al, 1957;Banerjee, 1958;Ray-Chaudhuri & Banerjee, 1959;Ruthmann & Dahlberg, 1976;Suman, 2010). It thus appears that O. nigricornis is the first pyrrhocorid species with this type of metaphase architecture in both meiotic divisions, which, otherwise, is commonly observed in species with both X and multiple Xs in the family Coreidae (Manna, 1951;Sands, 1982;Suja et al, 2000;Cattani & Papeschi 2004;Franco et al, 2006;Souza et al, 2009;Bansal, 2012;Kaur & Bansal, 2012 a, b;Bansal & Kaur, 2013).…”

Karyotype characterization of planthopper species Hysteropterum albaceticum Dlabola, 1983 and Agalmatium bilobum (Fieber, 1877) (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Issidae) using AgNOR-, C- and DAPI/CMA3 -banding techniques

“…In recent years however an increasing quantity of such data have appeared and shown that holokinetic chromosomes can display a great deal of C-heterochromatin (Blackman, 1976(Blackman, , 1990Kuznetsova et al 1997;Maryańska-Nadachowska, 1999;Vanzela et al, 2000;Grozeva, Nokkala, 2001;Golub et al, 2004;Angus et al, 2004;Pérez et al, 2005;Franco et al, 2006;Bressa et al, 2008;Maryańska-Nadachowska et al, 2008). The species can diverge considerably in this pattern: some display a lot of C-heterochromatin; some show prominent C-bands of different size in separate chromosomes; and in other species C-heterochromatin appeared to avoid detection due to its presence in small or minute amounts.…”

Physical mapping of 18S rDNA and heterochromatin in species of family Lygaeidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)

“…In many cases, only 1 GC-rich heterochromatic block (interstitial or terminal) is recognized, which is often associated with the nucleolus organizer region (NOR; Camacho et al, 1985;Papeschi et al, 2003;Grozeva et al, 2004). Reports of interstitial heterochromatic blocks scattered throughout most autosomes are scarce and restricted to the family Curiae (Holhymenia rubiginosa and Spartocera batatas) (Fabricius, 1798) (Franco et al, 2006;Bressa et al, 2008). In the family Lygaeidae, studies on the heterochromatic location are limited to the genus Dieuches (Eyles, 1973), in which the 3 species analyzed showed AT-rich heterochromatic blocks already described in Heteroptera (Kaur et al, 2010).…”