Rapid chromosomal evolution in enigmatic mammal with XX in both sexes, the Alay mole vole Ellobius alaicus Vorontsov et al., 1969 (Mammalia, Rodentia)

By

Bakloushinskaya, Irina
Lyapunova, Elena
Saidov, Abdusattor
Romanenko, Svetlana
O'Brien, Patricia C. M.
Serdyukova, Natalia A.
Ferguson-Smith, Malcolm
Matveevsky, Sergey N.
Bogdanov, Alekseĭ S.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

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

Volume

13

Series / Issue

Issue: 2

Pages

147-177

Subjects

chromosome painting , Cytochrome b gene , Ellobius , Hybridization , nuclear XIST and Rspo1 genes , Robertsonian translocations , Speciation , synaptonemal complex

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.v13i2.34224

 

Abstract

Evolutionary history and taxonomic position for cryptic species may be clarified by using molecular and cytogenetic methods. The subterranean rodent, the Alay mole voleEllobiusalaicusVorontsov et al., 1969 is one of three sibling species constituting the subgenus Ellobius Fischer, 1814, all of which lost the Y chromosome and obtained isomorphic XX sex chromosomes in both males and females.E.alaicusis evaluated by IUCN as a data deficient species because their distribution, biology, and genetics are almost unknown. We revealed specific karyotypic variability (2n = 52–48) inE.alaicusdue to different Robertsonian translocations (Rbs). Two variants of hybrids (2n = 53, different Rbs) withE.tancreiBlasius, 1884 were found at the Northern slopes of the Alay Ridge and in the Naryn district, Kyrgyzstan. We described the sudden change in chromosome numbers from 2n = 50 to 48 and specific karyotype structure for mole voles, which inhabit the entrance to the Alay Valley (Tajikistan), and revealed their affiliation asE.alaicusby cytochromeband fragments of nuclearXISTandRspo1genes sequencing. To date, it is possible to expand the range ofE.alaicusfrom the Alay Valley (South Kyrgyzstan) up to the Ferghana Ridge and the Naryn Basin, Tien Shan at the north-east and to the Pamir-Alay Mountains (Tajikistan) at the west. The closeness ofE.tancreiandE.alaicusis supported, whereas specific chromosome and molecular changes, as well as geographic distribution, verified the species status forE.alaicus. The case ofEllobiusspecies accented an unevenness in rates of chromosome and nucleotide changes along with morphological similarity, which is emblematic for cryptic species.