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Highly conserved linkage homology between birds and turtles: Bird and turtle chromosomes are precise counterparts of each other

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Abstract

The karyotypes of birds, turtles and snakes are characterized by two distinct chromosomal components, macrochromosomes and microchromosomes. This close karyological relationship between birds and reptiles has long been a topic of speculation among cytogeneticists and evolutionary biologists; however, there is scarcely any evidence for orthology at the molecular level. To define the conserved chromosome synteny among humans, chickens and reptiles and the process of genome evolution in the amniotes, we constructed comparative cytogenetic maps of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and the Japanese four-striped rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata) using cDNA clones of reptile functional genes. Homology between the turtle and chicken chromosomes is highly conserved, with the six largest chromosomes being almost equivalent to each other. On the other hand, homology to chicken chromosomes is lower in the snake than in the turtle. Turtle chromosome 6q and snake chromosome 2p represent conserved synteny with the chicken Z chromosome. These results suggest that the avian and turtle genomes have been well conserved during the evolution of the Arcosauria. The avian and snake sex Z chromosomes were derived from different autosomes in a common ancestor, indicating that the causative genes of sex determination may be different between birds and snakes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Cytogenetics, Division of Genome Dynamics, Creative Research Initiative “Sousei”, Hokkaido University, North 10 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Yoichi Matsuda, Chizuko Nishida-Umehara, Asato Kuroiwa, Kazuhiko Yamada, Taku Isobe, Junko Ando, Junko Ishijima & Takahiro Murakami

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, North 10 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Yoichi Matsuda, Chizuko Nishida-Umehara & Asato Kuroiwa

  3. Laboratory for Evolutionary Regeneration Biology, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0047, Japan

    Hiroshi Tarui, Yukako Hirao, Osamu Nishimura & Kiyokazu Agata

  4. Immunology Section, National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency, Tamaki, Mie, 519-0423, Japan

    Atushi Fujiwara

  5. Transcriptome Profiling Group, Research Center for Radiation Safety, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan

    Akiko Hayashi & Toshiyuki Saito

  6. Laboratory for Evolutionary Morphology, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0047, Japan

    Yasunori Murakami & Shigeru Kuratani

Authors
  1. Yoichi Matsuda
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  2. Chizuko Nishida-Umehara
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  3. Hiroshi Tarui
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  4. Asato Kuroiwa
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  5. Kazuhiko Yamada
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  6. Taku Isobe
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  7. Junko Ando
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  8. Atushi Fujiwara
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  9. Yukako Hirao
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  10. Osamu Nishimura
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  11. Junko Ishijima
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  12. Akiko Hayashi
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  13. Toshiyuki Saito
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  14. Takahiro Murakami
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  15. Yasunori Murakami
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  16. Shigeru Kuratani
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  17. Kiyokazu Agata
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoichi Matsuda.

Additional information

Matsuda and Nishida-Umehara contributed equally to this work.

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Matsuda, Y., Nishida-Umehara, C., Tarui, H. et al. Highly conserved linkage homology between birds and turtles: Bird and turtle chromosomes are precise counterparts of each other. Chromosome Res 13, 601–615 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-005-0986-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-005-0986-5

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