Seasonal variation of chiasma frequency in Phyllodactylus marmoratus (Gray) (Gekkonidae ? Reptilia)

Seasonal changes in recombination characteristics in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster

Environmental seasonality is a potent evolutionary force, capable of maintaining polymorphism, promoting phenotypic plasticity and causing bet-hedging. In Drosophila, environmental seasonality has been reported to affect life-history traits, tolerance to abiotic stressors and immunity. Oscillations in frequencies of alleles underlying fitness-related traits were also documented alongside SNPs across the genome. Here, we test for seasonal changes in two recombination characteristics, crossover rate and crossover interference, in a natural D. melanogaster population from India using morphological markers of the three major chromosomes. We show that winter flies, collected after the dry season, have significantly higher desiccation tolerance than their autumn counterparts. This difference proved to hold also for hybrids with three independent marker stocks, suggesting its genetic rather than plastic nature. Significant between-season changes are documented for crossover rate (in 9 of 13 studied intervals) and crossover interference (in four of eight studied pairs of intervals); both single and double crossovers were usually more frequent in the winter cohort. The winter flies also display weaker plasticity of both recombination characteristics to desiccation. We ascribe the observed differences to indirect selection on recombination caused by directional selection on desiccation tolerance. Our findings suggest that changes in recombination characteristics can arise even after a short period of seasonal adaptation (~8-10 generations).

A rigorous measure of genome-wide genetic shuffling that takes into account crossover positions and Mendel's second law

Comparative studies in evolutionary genetics rely critically on evaluation of the total amount of genetic shuffling that occurs during gamete production. Such studies have been hampered by the absence of a direct measure of this quantity. Existing measures consider crossing-over by simply counting the average number of crossovers per meiosis. This is qualitatively inadequate, because the positions of crossovers along a chromosome are also critical: a crossover toward the middle of a chromosome causes more shuffling than a crossover toward the tip. Moreover, traditional measures fail to consider shuffling from independent assortment of homologous chromosomes (Mendel's second law). Here, we present a rigorous measure of genome-wide shuffling that does not suffer from these limitations. We define the parameter [Formula: see text] as the probability that the alleles at two randomly chosen loci are shuffled during gamete production. This measure can be decomposed into separate contributions from crossover number and position and from independent assortment. Intrinsic implications of this metric include the fact that [Formula: see text] is larger when crossovers are more evenly spaced, which suggests a selective advantage of crossover interference. Utilization of [Formula: see text] is enabled by powerful emergent methods for determining crossover positions either cytologically or by DNA sequencing. Application of our analysis to such data from human male and female reveals that (i) [Formula: see text] in humans is close to its maximum possible value of 1/2 and that (ii) this high level of shuffling is due almost entirely to independent assortment, the contribution of which is ∼30 times greater than that of crossovers.

Immunocytological analysis of meiotic recombination in two anole lizards (Squamata, Dactyloidae)

Although the evolutionary importance of meiotic recombination is not disputed, the significance of interspecies differences in the recombination rates and recombination landscapes remains under-appreciated. Recombination rates and distribution of chiasmata have been examined cytologically in many mammalian species, whereas data on other vertebrates are scarce. Immunolocalization of the protein of the synaptonemal complex (SYCP3), centromere proteins and the mismatch-repair protein MLH1 was used, which is associated with the most common type of recombination nodules, to analyze the pattern of meiotic recombination in the male of two species of iguanian lizards, Anolis carolinensis Voigt, 1832 and Deiroptyx coelestinus (Cope, 1862). These species are separated by a relatively long evolutionary history although they retain the ancestral iguanian karyotype. In both species similar and extremely uneven distributions of MLH1 foci along the macrochromosome bivalents were detected: approximately 90% of crossovers were located at the distal 20% of the chromosome arm length. Almost total suppression of recombination in the intermediate and proximal regions of the chromosome arms contradicts the hypothesis that "homogenous recombination" is responsible for the low variation in GC content across the anole genome. It also leads to strong linkage disequilibrium between the genes located in these regions, which may benefit conservation of co-adaptive gene arrays responsible for the ecological adaptations of the anoles.

Meiosis evolves: adaptation to external and internal environments

306 I. 306 II. 307 III. 312 IV. 317 V. 318 319 References 319 SUMMARY: Meiosis is essential for the fertility of most eukaryotes and its structures and progression are conserved across kingdoms. Yet many of its core proteins show evidence of rapid or adaptive evolution. What drives the evolution of meiosis proteins? How can constrained meiotic processes be modified in response to challenges without compromising their essential functions? In surveying the literature, we found evidence of two especially potent challenges to meiotic chromosome segregation that probably necessitate adaptive evolutionary responses: whole-genome duplication and abiotic environment, especially temperature. Evolutionary solutions to both kinds of challenge are likely to involve modification of homologous recombination and synapsis, probably via adjustments of core structural components important in meiosis I. Synthesizing these findings with broader patterns of meiosis gene evolution suggests that the structural components of meiosis coevolve as adaptive modules that may change in primary sequence and function while maintaining three-dimensional structures and protein interactions. The often sharp divergence of these genes among species probably reflects periodic modification of entire multiprotein complexes driven by genomic or environmental changes. We suggest that the pressures that cause meiosis to evolve to maintain fertility may cause pleiotropic alterations of global crossover rates. We highlight several important areas for future research.

Rate of Chromosome changes and Speciation in Reptiles

The chromosome changing rate (i.e. the number of chromosome rearrangements per million years) was studied in 1,329 reptile species in order to evaluate the karyological evolutionary trend and the existence of possible correlations between chromosome mutations and some aspects of the evolution of this class. The results obtained highlight the existence of a general direct correlation between chromosome changing rate and number of living species, although different trends can be observed in the different orders and suborders. In turtles, the separation of pleurodires from cryptodires was accompanied by a considerable karyological diversification. Among pleurodires, the evolution of the Chelidae and Pelomedusidae was also characterised by chromosome variation, while in cryptodires a marked karyological homogeneity is observed between and within infra-orders. Similarly there is no correlation between changing rate and species number in crocodiles, where the evolution of the families and genera has entailed few chromosome mutations. Chromosome variability was greater in lizards and snakes. In the formers variations in chromosome changing rate accompanied the separation of the infra-orders and the evolution of most of the families and of some genera. The origin of snakes has also been accompanied by a marked karyological diversification, while the subsequent evolution of the infra-orders and families has entailed a high level of chromosome variability only in colubroids. The karyological evolution in reptiles generally entailed a progressive reduction in chromosome changing rate, albeit with differences in the diverse orders and suborders. This trend seems to be consistent with the "canalization model" as originally proposed by Bickham and Baker in [Bickham, J.W. & R J. Baker, 1979. Bull. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. 13: 70-84.] However, several inconsistencies have been found excluding that in this class the ultimate goal of chromosome variations was the achievement of a so-called "optimum karyotype'' as suggested by the above-mentioned theory. Other mechanisms could underpin chromosome variability in Reptiles. Among them a genomic composition more or less favourable to promoting chromosome rearrangements and factors favouring the fixation of a mutant karyotype in condition of homozygosis. Turtles and crocodiles would have a genome characterised by large chromosomes and a low level of chromosome compartmentalisation limiting the recombination and the frequency of rearrangements. A low rate of chromosome variability modifying little if at all the gene linkage groups would have favoured a conservative evolutionary strategy. In the course of evolution, lizards and snakes could have achieved a genome characterised by smaller chromosomes and a higher level of compartmentalisation. This would have raised the frequency of recombination and consequently an evolutionary strategy promoting a higher degree of variability and a greater level of speciation.

Ecological aspects of the recombination problem

Some consequences of the effect of environmental factors on the recombination system are dealt with in this paper. There are two components involved - the system of individual adaptation (F-system) and the genetic system of population adaptation (R-system). Their interaction offers an optimum interrelation of immediate adaptivity and genetic flexibility within the population. Familiar data on the evolution of recombination control systems are considered in connection with the problems of induced broadening of genotypic variation spectrum with a view to selection.A notion of combined recombination rate and spectrum control is introduced here: disturbance control-due to direct influence of environmental factors on R-system (including meiotic processes), negative feedback control - due to dominance-recessiveness relationship between rec-loci alleles of the "fine" control system, and to the dependence of the R-system on the F-system norms of reaction to environment variation. The problem of dependence of the recombination spectrum on environmental factors has been considered and the hypothesis of a possible mechanism of such a dependence suggested.