Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on March 13, 2008
Journal of Heredity 2008 99(3):241-253; doi:10.1093/jhered/esm130
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The Ancestral Carnivore Karyotype (2n = 38) Lives Today in Ringtails
From the H & W Cytogenetic Services, Inc., Lovettsville, VA 20180 (Nash); the Intramural Research Support Program, SAIC and the National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702 (Menninger); the Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Padilla-Nash); Cancer Genetics Program, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702 (Stone); and the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Building 560/Room 21-105, Frederick, MD 21702 (Nash, Perelman, and O'Brien)
Address correspondence to Dr. Stephen J. O'Brien at the address above, or e-mail: Obrien{at}ncifcrf.gov.
Chromosome painting was used to investigate the conservation of high-resolution longitudinal 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)/G bands in Carnivore chromosomes. Cat (Felis catus) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) painting probes were hybridized to the ringtail (Bassaricus astutus), dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula), and Malagasy civet (Fossa fossa) to identify homologous chromosome elements. The patterns of chromosome segment homology among Carnivore species allowed us to reconstruct and propose the disposition of a high-resolution banded ancestral carnivore karyotype (ACK). Three bi-armed chromosomes consistently found among Caniformia species are represented as 6 homologous acrocentric chromosomes among Feliformia species of Carnivora. However, reexamination of the most basal of Feliformia species, the African palm civet Nandinia, revealed the presence of the 3 heretofore Caniformia bi-armed chromosomes. Because these 3 bi-armed chromosomes are found in both Caniformia and Feliformia lineages, they are presumed ancestral for all Carnivora, suggesting that the ACK chromosome number would be 38, rather than the previously supposed 42. Banded chromosomes of the ACK are used to evaluate the consistency between recently determined molecular phylogenetic relationships and postulated cytogenetic dynamics in the same Carnivore species.
Corresponding Editor: Stephen O'Brien
Received August 13, 2007
Accepted October 25, 2007