A new form of the mole vole Ellobius tancrei Blasius, 1884 (Mammalia, Rodentia) with the lowest chromosome number

By

Bakloushinskaya, Irina
Romanenko, Svetlana
Serdukova, Natalia
Graphodatsky, Alexander
Lyapunova, Elena

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2013

Original Publication

Comparative cytogenetics : international journal of plant & animal cytogenetics, karyosystematics and molecular systematics

Volume

7

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

163-169

Subjects

chromosome painting , Cricetidae , Ellobius , mole voles , Robertsonian rearrangements , Speciation

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

St. Petersburg, Russia [Published] with technical support of Zoological Institute RAS [2007]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/compcytogen.v7i2.5350

 

Abstract

The subterranean mole vole, Ellobius tancrei, with a specific variability in autosomes (2n = 31–54) and unusual sex chromosomes (XX in males and females), represents an amazing model for studying the role of chromosome changes in speciation. New materials from the upper reaches of the Surkhob River in the Pamiro-Alay mountains resulted in the discovery of a new form with 2n = 30. The application of Zoo-FISH and G-banding methods allowed the detection of 13 pairs of autosomes as Robertsonian metacentrics originated after fusions of acrocentrics of an assumed ancestral karyotype of E. tancrei with 2n = 54. The sex chromosomes (XX, in both sexes) and one pair of acrocentric autosomes are the only acrocentrics in this karyotype, and the set with 2n = 30 possesses the lowest possible chromosome number among populations of E. tancrei.