Molecular cytogenetic characterization of Rumex papillaris, a dioecious plant with an XX/XY(1)Y (2) sex chromosome system.

Rumex papillaris Boiss, & Reut., an Iberian endemic, belongs to the section Acetosa of the genus Rumex whose main representative is R. acetosa L., a species intensively studied in relation to sex-chromosome evolution. Here, we characterize cytogenetically the chromosomal complement of R. papillaris in an effort to enhance future comparative genomic approaches and to better our understanding of sex chromosome structure in plants. Rumex papillaris, as is common in this group, is a dioecious species characterized by the presence of a multiple sex chromosome system (with females 2n = 12 + XX and males 2n = 12 + XY(1)Y(2)). Except for the X chromosome both Y chromosomes are the longest in the karyotype and appear heterochromatic due to the accumulation of at least two satellite DNA families, RAE180 and RAYSI. Each chromosome of pair VI has an additional major heterochromatin block at the distal region of the short arm. These supernumerary heterochromatic blocks are occupied by RAE730 satellite DNA family. The Y-related RAE180 family is also present in an additional minor autosomal locus. Our comparative study of the chromosomal organization of the different satellite-DNA sequences in XX/XY and XX/XY(1)Y(2) Rumex species demonstrates that of active mechanisms of heterochromatin amplification occurred and were accompanied by chromosomal rearrangements giving rise to the multiple XX/XY(1)Y(2) chromosome systems observed in Rumex. Additionally, Y(1) and Y(2) chromosomes have undergone further rearrangements leading to differential patterns of Y-heterochromatin distribution between Rumex species with multiple sex chromosome systems.

SatDNA Analyzer: a computing tool for satellite-DNA evolutionary analysis.

UNLABELLED: satDNA Analyzer is a program, implemented in C++, for the analysis of the patterns of variation at each nucleotide position considered independently amongst all units of a given satellite-DNA family when comparing it between a pair of species. The program classifies each site accordingly as monomorphic or polymorphic, discriminates shared from non-shared polymorphisms and classifies each non-shared polymorphism according to the model proposed by Strachan et al. in six different stages of transition during the spread of a variant repeat unit toward its fixation. Furthermore, this program implements several other utilities for satellite-DNA analysis evolution such as the design of the average consensus sequences, the average base pair contents, the distribution of variant sites, the transition to transversion ratio and different estimates of intra-specific variation and inter-specific variation. Aprioristic hypotheses on factors influencing the molecular drive process and the rates and biases of concerted evolution can be tested with this program. Additionally, satDNA Analyzer generates an output file containing a sequence alignment without shared polymorphisms to be used for further evolutionary analysis by using different phylogenetic softwares. AVAILABILITY: satDNA Analyzer is freely available at http://satdna.sourceforge.net/. SatDNA Analyzer has been designed to operate on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Cloning and characterization of dispersed repetitive DNA derived from microdissected sex chromosomes of Rumex acetosa.

Rumex acetosa is characterized by a multiple chromosome system (2n = 12 + XX for females, and 2n = 12 + XY1Y2 for males), in which sex is determined by the ratio between the number of X chromosomes and autosome sets. For a better understanding of the molecular structure and evolution of plant sex chromosomes, we have generated a sex chromosome specific library of R. acetosa by microdissection. The screening of this library has allowed us to identify 5 repetitive DNA families that have been characterized in detail. One of these families, DOP-20, has shown no homology with other sequences in databases. Nevertheless, the putative proteins encoded by the other 4 families, DOP-8, DOP-47, DOP-60, and DOP-61, show homology with proteins from different plant retroelements, including poly proteins from Ty3-gypsy- and Ty1-copia-like long terminal repeat (LTR) retroelements, and reverse transcriptase from non-LTR retro elements. Results indicate that sequences from these 5 families are dispersed throughout the genome of both males and females, but no appreciable accumulation or differentiation of these types of sequences have been found in the Y chromosomes. These repetitive DNA sequences are more conserved in the genome of other dioecious species such as Rumex papillaris, Rumex intermedius, Rumex thyrsoides, Rumex hastatulus, and Rumex suffruticosus, than in the polygamous, gynodioecious, or hermaphrodite species Rumex induratus, Rumex lunaria, Rumex con glom er atus, Rumex crispus, and Rumex bucephalo phorus, which supports a single origin of dioecious species in this genus. The implication of these transposable elements in the origin and evolution of the heteromorphic sex chromosomes of R. acetosa is discussed.

Reduced rates of sequence evolution of Y-linked satellite DNA in Rumex (Polygonaceae).

One characteristic of sex chromosomes is the accumulation of a set of different types of repetitive DNA sequences in the Y chromosomes. However, little is known about how this occurs or about how the absence of recombination affects the subsequent evolutionary fate of the repetitive sequences in the Y chromosome. Here we compare the evolutionary pathways leading to the appearance of three different families of satellite-DNA sequences within the genomes of Rumex acetosa and R. papillaris, two dioecious plant species with a complex XX/XY(1)Y(2) sex-chromosome system. We have found that two of these families, one autosomic (the RAE730 family) and one Y-linked (the RAYSI family), arose independently from the ancestral duplication of the same 120-bp repeat unit. Conversely, a comparative analysis of the three satellite-DNA families reveals no evolutionary relationships between these two and the third, RAE180, also located in the Y chromosomes. However, we have demonstrated that, regardless of the mechanisms that gave rise to these families, satellite-DNA sequences have different evolutionary fates according to their location in different types of chromosomes. Specifically, those in the Y chromosomes have evolved at half the rate of those in the autosomes, our results supporting the hypothesis that satellite DNAs in nonrecombining Y chromosomes undergo lower rates of sequence evolution and homogenization than do satellite DNAs in autosomes.

Genomic organization and evolution of the 5S ribosomal DNA in the ancient fish sturgeon.

Ribosomal DNA in sturgeon is informative when analyzed at the molecular level because it bears unique characteristics that are, to a certain extent, ancestral within vertebrates. In this paper, we examine the structure and the molecular evolution of the 5S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) region in 13 sturgeon species, comparing both the 5S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and the non-transcribed spacer (NTS) sequences between the coding regions. We have found that different NTS and 5S gene variants are intermixed in the 5S rDNA arrays of the different sturgeon species and that all variants are ancestral, having been maintained over many millions of years. Using predictive models, we have found similar levels of sequence diversity in the coding regions, as well as in the non-coding region, but fixed interspecific differences are underrepresented for 5S genes. However, contrary to the expectations, we have not found fixed differences between NTS sequences when comparing many pairs of species. Specifically, when they belong to the same phylogeographic clade of the four into which the sturgeon is divided, but fixation of mutations and divergence is found between species belonging to different phylogeographic clades. Our results suggest that the evolution of the two parts of the 5S rDNA region cannot be explained exclusively as the outcome of a balance between mutational, homogenizing (i.e., gene conversion as a predominant force in sturgeon), and selective forces. Rather, they suggest that other factors (i.e., hybridization) might be superimposed over those forces and thus could to some extent be masking their effects.