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Reconstruction of gross avian genome structure, organization and evolution suggests that the chicken lineage most closely resembles the dinosaur avian ancestor.

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Date
2014-12-11
Authors
Romanov, Michael N
Farré, Marta
Lithgow, Pamela E
Fowler, Katie E
Skinner, Benjamin M
O'Connor, Rebecca
Fonseka, Gothami
Backström, Niclas
Matsuda, Yoichi
Nishida, Chizuko
Houde, Peter
Jarvis, Erich D
Ellegren, Hans
Burt, David W
Larkin, Denis M
Griffin, Darren K
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The availability of multiple avian genome sequence assemblies greatly improves our ability to define overall genome organization and reconstruct evolutionary changes. In birds, this has previously been impeded by a near intractable karyotype and relied almost exclusively on comparative molecular cytogenetics of only the largest chromosomes. Here, novel whole genome sequence information from 21 avian genome sequences (most newly assembled) made available on an interactive browser (Evolution Highway) was analyzed. RESULTS: Focusing on the six best-assembled genomes allowed us to assemble a putative karyotype of the dinosaur ancestor for each chromosome. Reconstructing evolutionary events that led to each species' genome organization, we determined that the fastest rate of change occurred in the zebra finch and budgerigar, consistent with rapid speciation events in the Passeriformes and Psittaciformes. Intra- and interchromosomal changes were explained most parsimoniously by a series of inversions and translocations respectively, with breakpoint reuse being commonplace. Analyzing chicken and zebra finch, we found little evidence to support the hypothesis of an association of evolutionary breakpoint regions with recombination hotspots but some evidence to support the hypothesis that microchromosomes largely represent conserved blocks of synteny in the majority of the 21 species analyzed. All but one species showed the expected number of microchromosomal rearrangements predicted by the haploid chromosome count. Ostrich, however, appeared to retain an overall karyotype structure of 2n=80 despite undergoing a large number (26) of hitherto un-described interchromosomal changes. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that mechanisms exist to preserve a static overall avian karyotype/genomic structure, including the microchromosomes, with widespread interchromosomal change occurring rarely (e.g., in ostrich and budgerigar lineages). Of the species analyzed, the chicken lineage appeared to have undergone the fewest changes compared to the dinosaur ancestor.
Type
Journal article
Subject
Animals
Chickens
Chromosome Painting
Dinosaurs
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Ontology
Genomics
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
Karyotype
Passeriformes
Recombination, Genetic
Synteny
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9319
Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1186/1471-2164-15-1060
Publication Info
Romanov, Michael N; Farré, Marta; Lithgow, Pamela E; Fowler, Katie E; Skinner, Benjamin M; O'Connor, Rebecca; ... Griffin, Darren K (2014). Reconstruction of gross avian genome structure, organization and evolution suggests that the chicken lineage most closely resembles the dinosaur avian ancestor. BMC Genomics, 15. pp. 1060. 10.1186/1471-2164-15-1060. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9319.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Scholars@Duke

Jarvis

Erich David Jarvis

Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Neurobiology
Dr. Jarvis' laboratory studies the neurobiology of vocal communication. Emphasis is placed on the molecular pathways involved in the perception and production of learned vocalizations. They use an integrative approach that combines behavioral, anatomical, electrophysiological and molecular biological techniques. The main animal model used is songbirds, one of the few vertebrate groups that evolved the ability to learn vocalizations. The generality of the discoveries is tested in other vocal
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