Chromosomal painting in Charadrius collaris Vieillot, 1818 and Vanellus chilensis Molina, 1782 and an analysis of chromosomal signatures in Charadriiformes

Charadriiformes represent one of the largest orders of birds; members of this order are diverse in morphology, behavior and reproduction, making them an excellent model for studying evolution. It is accepted that the avian putative ancestral karyotype, with 2n = 80, remains conserved for about 100 million years. So far, only a few species of Charadriiformes have been studied using molecular cytogenetics. Here, we performed chromosome painting on metphase chromosomes of two species of Charadriidae, Charadrius collaris and Vanellus chilensis, with whole chromosome paint probes from Burhinus oedicnemus. Charadrius collaris has a diploid number of 76, with both sex chromosomes being submetacentric. In V. chilensi a diploid number of 78 was identified, and the Z chromosome is submetacentric. Chromosome painting suggests that chromosome conservation is a characteristic common to the family Charadriidae. The results allowed a comparative analysis between the three suborders of Charadriiformes and the order Gruiformes using chromosome rearrangements to understand phylogenetic relationships between species and karyotypic evolution. However, the comparative analysis between the Charadriiformes suborders so far has not revealed any shared rearrangements, indicating that each suborder follows an independent evolutionary path, as previously proposed. Likewise, although the orders Charadriiformes and Gruiformes are placed on sister branches, they do not share any signature chromosomal rearrangements.

Chromosomal painting of the sandpiper (Actitis macularius) detects several fissions for the Scolopacidae family (Charadriiformes)

Background

The Scolopacidae family (Suborder Scolopaci, Charadriiformes) is composed of sandpipers and snipes; these birds are long-distance migrants that show great diversity in their behavior and habitat use. Cytogenetic studies in the Scolopacidae family show the highest diploid numbers for order Charadriiformes. This work analyzes for the first time the karyotype of Actitis macularius by classic cytogenetics and chromosome painting.

Results

The species has a diploid number of 92, composed mostly of telocentric pairs. This high 2n is greater than the proposed 80 for the avian ancestral putative karyotype (a common feature among Scolopaci), suggesting that fission rearrangements have formed smaller macrochromosomes and microchromosomes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization using Burhinus oedicnemus whole chromosome probes confirmed the fissions in pairs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of macrochromosomes.

Conclusion

Comparative analysis with other species of Charadriiformes studied by chromosome painting together with the molecular phylogenies for the order allowed us to raise hypotheses about the chromosomal evolution in suborder Scolopaci. From this, we can establish a clear idea of how chromosomal evolution occurred in this suborder.

Chromosome painting in Glyphorynchus spirurus (Vieillot, 1819) detects a new fission in Passeriformes

Glyphorynchus spirurus (GSP), also called the Wedge-billed Woodcreeper (Furnariidae) has an extensive distribution in the Americas, including the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Nevertheless, there is no information about its karyotype or genome organization. To contribute to the knowledge of chromosomal evolution in Passeriformes we analysed the karyotype of Glyphorynchus spirurus by classic and molecular cytogenetics methods. We show that Glyphorynchus spirurus has a 2n = 80 karyotype with a fundamental number (FN) of 84, similar to the avian putative ancestral karyotype (PAK). Glyphorynchus spirurus pair 1 was heteromorphic in the Tapajós population whereby the short arms varied in sizes, possibly due to a pericentric inversion, as described in other Furnariidae birds. FISH with the Histone H5 probe revealed a signal in the pericentromeric region of G. spirurus chromosome 5 and rDNA 18S showed interstitial signal in GSP-1. Chromosome painting with Gallus gallus (GGA) macrochromosomes 1-9 probes showed disruption of chromosome syntenies of GGA-1, 2 and 4 by fission in Glyphorynchus spirurus. Our results confirm that the GGA1 centric fission is a synapomorphic character for the phylogenetic branch composed of Strigiformes, Passeriformes, Columbiformes and Falconiformes. On the other hand, the GGA-2 fission is reported here for the first time in Passeriformes. Chromosome painting with BOE whole chromosome probes confirmed these rearrangements in Glyphorynchus spirurus revealed by Gallus gallus 1-9 probes, in addition to enabling the establishment of genome-wide homology map.