Karyotype relationships of six bat species (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) from China revealed by chromosome painting and G-banding comparison

Abstract

The Vespertilionidae is the largest family in the order Chiroptera and has a worldwide distribution in the temperate and tropical regions. In order to further clarify the karyotype relationships at the lower taxonomic level in Vespertilionidae, genome-wide comparative maps have been constructed between Myotis myotis (MMY, 2n = 44) and six vesper bats from China: Myotis altarium (MAL, 2n = 44), Hypsugo pulveratus (HPU, 2n = 44), Nyctalus velutinus (NVE, 2n = 36), Tylonycteris robustula (TRO, 2n = 32), Tylonycteris sp. (TSP, 2n = 30)and Miniopterus fuliginosus (MFU, 2n = 46) by cross-species chromosome painting with a set of painting probes derived from flow-sorted chromosomes of Myotis myotis. Each Myotis myotis autosomal probe detected a single homologous chromosomal segment in the genomes of these six vesper bats except for MMY chromosome 3/4 paint which hybridized onto two chromosomes in the genome of M. fuliginosus. Our results show that Robertsonian translocation is the main mode of karyotype evolution in Vespertilionidae and that the addition of heterochromatic material also plays an important role in the karyotypic evolution of the genera Tylonycteris and Nyctalus. Two conserved syntenic associations (MMY9 + 23 and 18 + 19) could be the synapomorphic features for the genus Tylonycteris. The integration of our maps with the published maps has enabled us to deduce chromosomal homologies between human and these six vesper bats and provided new insight into the karyotype evolution of the family Vespertilionidae.

Short CommunicationNew insights into telomeric DNA sequence (TTAGGG)n location in bat chromosomes

“…Comparisons of chromosome banding patterns support the hypothesis that Robertsonian and tandem chromosomal fusions were the main events in the karyotype evolution of Chiroptera, and the reduced chromosomal number found in some species of phyllostomid and molossid bats may have resulted from such events (Morielle-Versute et al, 1996;de Faria and Morielle-Versute, 2006;Ao et al, 2006Ao et al, , 2007Mao et al, 2008).…”

Chromosome number reduction accompanied by extensive heterochromatin addition in the bat <i>Glauconycteris beatrix</i> (Mammalia; Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)

“…Therefore it was not possible to classify the chromosomal arms of Glauconycteris on a GTG-banding basis. However, a comparison with the Myotis karyotype was enabled by FISH using whole chromosome-specific paints of Myotis myotis (Ao et al, 2006) (see Fig. 2 ).…”

“…Considering the recently described new species, G. curryi (Eger and Schlitter, 2001), the species determination of our specimen as G. beatrix still holds true. The specimen is deposited in the Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt/Main (Germany), collection number SMF 79440.Cell culture and chromosome staining procedures were performed as described previously (Eick et al, 2007 and references therein).Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was done using biotinylated probes generated from DOP-PCR amplified flow-sorted chromosomes of the 2n = 44 vespertilionid bat Myotis myotis (Ao et al, 2006). In the genus Myotis, chromosomal arms rather than whole chromosomes were numbered to facilitate comparison with other taxa (Bickham, 1979).…”

Karyotypic differences in two sibling species of <i>Scotophilus</i> from South Africa (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera, Mammalia)

“…FISH was done using biotinylated probes generated from DOP-PCR amplified flow-sorted chromosomes of Myotis myotis (Ao et al, 2006). Out of the complete set of chromosomal paints, seven probes were selected to support the G-band based karyological analysis.…”