Comparative cytogenetics of bats (Chiroptera): The prevalence of Robertsonian translocations limits the power of chromosomal characters in resolving interfamily phylogenetic relationships

Although the monophyly of Chiroptera is well supported by many independent studies, higher-level systematics, e.g. the monophyly of microbats, remains disputed by morphological and molecular studies. Chromosomal rearrangements, as one type of rare genomic changes, have become increasingly popular in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chromosome research 2008-03, Vol.16 (1), p.155-170
Main Authors: Mao, Xiuguang, Nie, Wenhui, Wang, Jinhuan, Su, Weiting, Feng, Qing, Wang, Yingxiang, Dobigny, Gauthier, Yang, Fengtang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Animals
Bats
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cell Biology
Cell Line
Chiroptera
Chiroptera - genetics
chromosomal rearrangement
Chromosome Banding
Chromosome Painting
Chromosomes
Chromosomes, Mammalian - genetics
convergence
Cytogenetics
Emballonuridae
evolution
Evolutionary biology
Human Genetics
Humans
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
karyology
Life Sciences
Male
Megadermatidae
Phylogeny
Plant Genetics and Genomics
Prevalence
Robertsonian
Translocation, Genetic
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Summary:Although the monophyly of Chiroptera is well supported by many independent studies, higher-level systematics, e.g. the monophyly of microbats, remains disputed by morphological and molecular studies. Chromosomal rearrangements, as one type of rare genomic changes, have become increasingly popular in phylogenetic studies as alternatives to molecular and other morphological characters. Here, the representatives of families Megadermatidae and Emballonuridae are studied by comparative chromosome painting for the first time. The results have been integrated into published comparative maps, providing an opportunity to assess genome-wide chromosomal homologies between the representatives of eight bat families. Our results further substantiate the wide occurrence of Robertsonian translocations in bats, with the possible involvement of whole-arm reciprocal translocations (WARTs). In order to search for valid cytogenetic signature(s) for each family and superfamily, evolutionary chromosomal rearrangements identified by chromosomal painting and/or banding comparison are subjected to two independent analyses: (1) a cladistic analysis using parsimony and (2) the mapping of these chromosomal changes onto the molecularly defined phylogenetic tree available from the literature. Both analyses clearly indicate the prevalence of homoplasic events that reduce the reliability of chromosomal characters for resolving interfamily relationships in bats.
ISSN:0967-3849
1573-6849
DOI:10.1007/s10577-007-1206-2