Panzera Francisco, Cuadrado Ángeles, Mora Pablo, Palomeque Teresa, Lorite Pedro, Pita Sebastián
Evolutionary Genetic Section, Faculty of Science, University of the Republic, Iguá 4225, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay.
Department of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Alcalá (UAH), Alcalá de Henares, 28805 Madrid, Spain.
Insects. 2023 Sep 19;14(9):772. doi: 10.3390/insects14090772.
This study focused on analyzing the distribution of microsatellites in holocentric chromosomes of the Triatominae subfamily, insect vectors of Chagas disease. We employed a non-denaturing FISH technique to determine the chromosomal distribution of sixteen microsatellites across twenty-five triatomine species, involving five genera from the two principal tribes: Triatomini and Rhodniini. Three main hybridization patterns were identified: strong signals in specific chromosomal regions, dispersed signals dependent on microsatellite abundance and the absence of signals in certain chromosomal regions or entire chromosomes. Significant variations in hybridization patterns were observed between Rhodniini and Triatomini species. Rhodniini species displayed weak and scattered hybridization signals, indicating a low abundance of microsatellites in their genomes. In contrast, Triatomini species exhibited diverse and abundant hybridization patterns, suggesting that microsatellites are a significant repetitive component in their genomes. One particularly interesting finding was the high abundance of GATA repeats, and to a lesser extent AG repeats, in the Y chromosome of all analyzed Triatomini species. In contrast, the Y chromosome of Rhodniini species did not show enrichment in GATA and AG repeats. This suggests that the richness of GATA repeats on the Y chromosome likely represents an ancestral trait specific to the Triatomini tribe. Furthermore, this information can be used to elucidate the evolutionary relationships between Triatomini and other groups of reduviids, contributing to the understanding of the subfamily's origin. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the composition and distribution of microsatellites within Triatominae genomes, shedding light on their significance in the evolutionary processes of these species.
本研究聚焦于分析锥蝽亚科（恰加斯病的昆虫传播媒介）全着丝粒染色体中微卫星的分布情况。我们采用非变性荧光原位杂交技术来确定16个微卫星在25种锥蝽中的染色体分布，这些锥蝽涉及两个主要族（锥蝽族和红猎蝽族）的五个属。识别出了三种主要的杂交模式：特定染色体区域的强信号、依赖微卫星丰度的分散信号以及某些染色体区域或整条染色体上无信号。在红猎蝽族和锥蝽族物种之间观察到杂交模式存在显著差异。红猎蝽族物种显示出微弱且分散的杂交信号，表明其基因组中微卫星丰度较低。相比之下，锥蝽族物种呈现出多样且丰富的杂交模式，这表明微卫星是其基因组中一个重要的重复成分。一个特别有趣的发现是，在所有分析的锥蝽族物种的Y染色体中，GATA重复序列丰度很高，AG重复序列丰度相对较低。相比之下，红猎蝽族物种的Y染色体在GATA和AG重复序列上未显示出富集。这表明Y染色体上GATA重复序列的丰富性可能代表了锥蝽族特有的祖先特征。此外，这些信息可用于阐明锥蝽族与其他猎蝽类群之间的进化关系，有助于理解该亚科的起源。总体而言，本研究全面了解了锥蝽亚科基因组中微卫星的组成和分布，揭示了它们在这些物种进化过程中的重要性。
