Insights into the karyotype evolution of Charinidae, the early-diverging clade of whip spiders (Arachnida: Amblypygi)

0549740 - BC 2022 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Reyes Lerma, A. C. - Šťáhlavský, F. - Seiter, M. - Carabajal Paladino, Leonela Z. - Divišová, K. - Forman, M. - Sember, Alexandr - Král, J.
Insights into the karyotype evolution of Charinidae, the early-diverging clade of whip spiders (Arachnida: Amblypygi).
Animals. Roč. 11, č. 11 (2021), č. článku 3233. ISSN 2076-2615. E-ISSN 2076-2615
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA16-10298S; GA MŠMT(CZ) EE2.3.30.0032
Institutional support: RVO:60077344 ; RVO:67985904
Keywords : Charinus * chromosome fusion * fluorescence in situ hybridization
OECD category: Genetics and heredity (medical genetics to be 3); Genetics and heredity (medical genetics to be 3) (UZFG-Y)
Impact factor: 3.231, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3233/pdf

Whip spiders (Amblypygi) represent an ancient order of tetrapulmonate arachnids with a low diversity. Their cytogenetic data are confined to only a few reports. Here, we analyzed the family Charinidae, a lineage almost at the base of the amblypygids, providing an insight into the ancestral traits and basic trajectories of amblypygid karyotype evolution. We performed Giemsa staining, selected banding techniques, and detected 18S ribosomal DNA and telomeric repeats by fluorescence in situ hybridization in four Charinus and five Sarax species. Both genera exhibit a wide range of diploid chromosome numbers (2n = 42–76 and 22–74 for Charinus and Sarax, respectively). The 2n reduction was accompanied by an increase of proportion of biarmed elements. We further revealed a single NOR site (probably an ancestral condition for charinids), the presence of a (TTAGG)n telomeric motif localized mostly at the chromosome ends, and an absence of heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Our data collectively suggest a high pace of karyotype repatterning in amblypygids, with probably a high ancestral 2n and its subsequent gradual reduction by fusions, and the action of pericentric inversions, similarly to what has been proposed for neoamblypygids. The possible contribution of fissions to charinid karyotype repatterning, however, cannot be fully ruled out.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0326566