Biology Faculty Articles

Title

Comparative Genomics: Tracking Chromosome Evolution in the Family Ursidae Using Reciprocal Chromosome Painting

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1998

Publication Title

Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics

ISSN

0301-0171

Volume

83

Issue/No.

3-4

First Page

182

Last Page

192

Abstract

The Ursidae family includes eight species, the karyotype of which diverges somewhat, in both chromosome number and morphology, from that of other families in the order Carnivora. The combination of consensus molecular phylogeny and high-resolution trypsin G-banded karyotype analysis has suggested that ancestral chromosomal fissions and at least two fusion events are associated with the development of the different ursid species. Here, we revisit this hypothesis by hybridizing reciprocal chromosome painting probes derived from the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), domestic cat (Felis catus), and man (Homo sapiens) to representative bear species karyotypes. Comparative analysis of the different chromosome segment homologies allowed reconstruction of the genomic composition of a putative ancestral bear karyotype based upon the recognition of 39 chromosome segments defined by painting as the smallest conserved evolutionary unit segments (pSCEUS) among these species. The different pSCEUS combinations occurring among modern bear species support and extend the postulated sequence of chromosomal rearrangements and provide a framework to propose patterns of genome reorganization among carnivores and other mammal radiations.

ORCID ID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

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Peer Reviewed

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