Karyotypic analysis and isolation of four DNA markers of the scleractinian coral Favites pentagona (Esper, 1795) (Scleractinia, Anthozoa, Cnidaria)

By

Kawakami, Rei
Taguchi, Takahiro
Vacarizas, Joshua
Ito, Masumi
Mezaki, Takuma
Tominaga, Akira
Kubota, Satoshi

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-4-5

Original Publication

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

Volume

16

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

77--92

Subjects

chromosome , Fish , histone , hsr , karyotype , rRNA , scleractinian coral

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.v16.i1.79953

 

Abstract

We performed conventional and molecular cytogenetic studies on the Favites pentagona Esper, 1795, a scleractinian coral mostly found along the west coast of Japan. Karyotype analysis of F. pentagona by G-banding revealed a karyogram containing a homogenously staining region (HSR) on chromosome 10 in more than 50% of the examined metaphase spreads. This HSR consisted of sequences from 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, as demonstrated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and DNA sequencing. We highlighted the development of four chromosomal FISH markers from repetitive genes such as U2 small nuclear RNA linked to 5S rRNA sequence (U2 snRNA-5S), 18S rRNA, histone H3, and uncharacterized gene FP-9X. The chromosomal locations of the U2 snRNA-5S and 18S RNA were on the terminal end of long arm of chromosomes 2 and 10, respectively, while the histone H3 and the uncharacterized gene were located near the centromeres of chromosomes 1 and 9, respectively. These FISH markers will improve the karyotyping of F. pentagona from mitotic preparations which helps in widening our understanding of coral genetic structure and chromosome organization. In addition, these improvements in karyotyping will provide the basis in constructing of chromosome-level genome assembly for F. pentagona.