scholarly journals Gigantic Genomes of Salamanders Indicate Body Temperature, not Genome Size, is the Driver of Global Methylation and 5-Methylcytosine Deamination in Vertebrates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Nichols Adams ◽  
Robert Daniel Denton ◽  
Rachel Lockridge Mueller

Methylation of cytosines at CpG dinucleotide sites silences transposable elements (TEs), sequences that replicate and move throughout genomes. TE abundance drives differences in genome size, but TE silencing variation across genomes of different sizes remains largely unexplored. Salamanders include most of the largest C-values -- 9 to 120 Gb. We measured CpG methylation levels in salamanders with genomes ranging from 2N = ~58 Gb to 4N = ~116 Gb. We compared these levels to results from endo- and ectothermic vertebrates with more typical genomes. Salamander methylation levels are ~90%, higher than all endotherms. However, salamander methylation does not differ from the other ectotherms, despite a ~100-fold difference in nuclear DNA content. Because methylation affects the nucleotide compositional landscape through 5-methylcytosine deamination to thymine, we quantified salamander CpG dinucleotide levels and compared them to other vertebrates. Salamanders have comparable CpG levels to other ectotherms, and ectotherm levels are higher than endotherms. These data show no shift in global methylation at the base of salamanders, despite a dramatic increase in TE load and genome size. This result is reconcilable with previous studies by considering endothermy and ectothermy, which may be more important drivers of methylation in vertebrates than genome size.

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-113
Author(s):  
Sandra Cichorz ◽  
Maria Gośka ◽  
Monika Rewers

AbstractSinceM. sinensisAnderss.,M. sacchariflorus(Maxim.) Hack. andM. ×giganteusJ.M.Greef & Deuter ex Hodk. and Renvoize have considerably the highest potential for biomass production amongMiscanthusAnderss. species, there is an urgent need to broaden the knowledge about cytological characteristics required for their improvement. In this study our objectives were to assess the genome size variation among eighteenMiscanthusaccessions, as well as estimation of the monoploid genome size (2C and Cx) of theM. sinensiscultivars, which have not been analyzed yet. The characterization of threeMiscanthusspecies was performed with the use of flow cytometry and analysis of the stomatal length. The triploid (2n = 3x = 57)M. sinensis‘Goliath’ andM. ×giganteusclones possessed the highest 2C DNA content (8.34 pg and 7.43 pg, respectively). The intermediate 2C-values were found in the nuclei of the diploid (2n = 2x = 38)M. sinensisaccessions (5.52–5.72 pg), whereas they were the lowest in the diploid (2n = 2x = 38)M. sacchariflorusecotypes (4.58–4.59 pg). The presented study revealed interspecific variation of nuclear DNA content (P<0.01) and therefore allowed for recognition of particular taxa, inter- and intraspecific hybrids and prediction of potential parental components. Moreover, intraspecific genome size variation (P<0.01) was observed inM. sinensiscultivars at 3.62%. The values of the stomatal size obtained for the triploidM. ×giganteus‘Great Britain’ (mean 30.70 μm) or ‘Canada’ (mean 29.67 μm) and diploidM. sinensis‘Graziella’ (mean 29.96 μm) did not differ significantly, therefore this parameter is not recommended for ploidy estimation.


Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 834-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Juan ◽  
E. Petitpierre

The relative amount of C-banded heterochromatin varies strikingly in seven species of tenebrionid beetles, from 25 to 58%, but most species show procentric bands only. Nevertheless, Gonocephalum patruele exhibits an almost completely heterochromatic X chromosome. The nuclear DNA content of Feulgen-stained spermatids has yielded up to a threefold difference, from 0.27 to 0.86 pg, which is not completely in accordance with the amount of C-banded heterochromatin. However, the genome sizes correlate significantly with the total chromosome areas at metaphase I and with the spermatid areas. Furthermore, the genome sizes agree with the subfamilial taxonomic groupings of these tenebrionids.Key words: Tenebrionidae, genome size, C-banding.


Genome ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen M Rasch ◽  
Carol Eunmi Lee ◽  
Grace A Wyngaard

Variation in nuclear DNA content within some eukaryotic species is well documented, but causes and consequences of such variation remain unclear. Here we report genome size of an estuarine and salt-marsh calanoid copepod, Eurytemora affinis, which has recently invaded inland freshwater habitats independently and repeatedly in North America, Europe, and Asia. Adults and embryos of E. affinis from the St. Lawrence River drainage were examined for somatic cell DNA content and the presence or absence of embryonic chromatin diminution, using Feulgen–DNA cytophotometry to determine a diploid or 2C genome size of 0.6–0.7 pg DNA/cell. The majority of somatic cell nuclei, however, have twice this DNA content (1.3 pg/nucleus) in all of the adults examined and possibly represent a population of cells arrested at the G2 stage of the cell cycle or associated with some degree of endopolyploidy. Both suggestions contradict assumptions that DNA replication does not occur in adult tissues during the determinate growth characteristic of copepods. Absence of germ cell nuclei with markedly elevated DNA values, commonly found for species of cyclopoid copepods that show chromatin diminution, indicates that E. affinis lacks this trait. The small genome size and presumed absence of chromatin diminution increase the potential utility of E. affinis as a model for genomic studies on mechanisms of adaptation during freshwater invasions.Key words: copepod, genome size, DNA–Feulgen, calanoid, Eurytemora.


2005 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.K. Brown ◽  
G.M. Lambert ◽  
M. Ghanim ◽  
H. Czosnek ◽  
D.W. Galbraith

AbstractThe nuclear DNA content of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennnadius) was estimated using flow cytometry. Male and female nuclei were stained with propidium iodide and their DNA content was estimated using chicken red blood cells and Arabidopsis thaliana L. (Brassicaceae) as external standards. The estimated nuclear DNA content of male and female B. tabaci was 1.04 and 2.06 pg, respectively. These results corroborated previous reports based on chromosome counting, which showed that B. tabaci males are haploid and females are diploid. Conversion between DNA content and genome size (1 pg DNA = 980 Mbp) indicate that the haploid genome size of B. tabaci is 1020 Mbp, which is approximately five times the size of the genome of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster Meigen. These results provide an important baseline that will facilitate genomics-based research for the B. tabaci complex.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. M. Zonneveld

Genome size (C-value) was applied anew to investigate the relationships within the genus Hepatica (Ranunculaceae). More than 50 samples representing all species (except H. falconeri), from wild and cultivated material, were investigated. Species of Hepatica turn out to be diploid (), tetraploid ( ), and a possible pentaploid. The somatic nuclear DNA contents (2C-value), as measured by flow cytometry with propidium iodide, were shown to range from 33 to 80 pg. The Asiatic and American species, often considered subspecies of H. nobilis, could be clearly distinguished from European H. nobilis. DNA content confirmed the close relationships in the Asiatic species, and these are here considered as subspecies of H. asiatica. Parents for the allotetraploid species could be suggested based on their nuclear DNA content. Contrary to the increase in genome size suggested earlier for Hepatica, a significant (6%–14%) loss of nuclear DNA in the natural allopolyploids was found.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. M. Zonneveld

This paper presents the largest genome sizes reported so far for angiosperms: for the monocots Trillium hagae (Melanthiaceae)  pg and for the eudicots Viscum album (Santalaceae) with  pg. They were found during ongoing measurements of nuclear DNA content in more than 4000 accessions. Moreover, it is demonstrated that both of the values for the largest genome size so far for the monocots of Fritillaria assyriaca and for the eudicots of Viscum cruciatum need to be corrected.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenqin Wang ◽  
Randall A. Kerstetter ◽  
Todd P. Michael

To extensively estimate the DNA content and to provide a basic reference for duckweed genome sequence research, the nuclear DNA content for 115 different accessions of 23 duckweed species was measured by flow cytometry (FCM) stained with propidium iodide as DNA stain. The 1C-value of DNA content in duckweed family varied nearly thirteen-fold, ranging from 150 megabases (Mbp) in Spirodela polyrhiza to 1,881 Mbp in Wolffia arrhiza. There is a continuous increase of DNA content in Spirodela, Landoltia, Lemna, Wolffiella, and Wolffia that parallels a morphological reduction in size. There is a significant intraspecific variation in the genus Lemna. However, no such variation was found in other studied species with multiple accessions of genera Spirodela, Landoltia, Wolffiella, and Wolffia.


Genome ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 1029-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Eilam ◽  
Y. Anikster ◽  
E. Millet ◽  
J. Manisterski ◽  
O. Sagi-Assif ◽  
...  

One of the intriguing issues concerning the dynamics of plant genomes is the occurrence of intraspecific variation in nuclear DNA amount. The aim of this work was to assess the ranges of intraspecific, interspecific, and intergeneric variation in nuclear DNA content of diploid species of the tribe Triticeae (Poaceae) and to examine the relation between life form or habitat and genome size. Altogether, 438 plants representing 272 lines that belong to 22 species were analyzed. Nuclear DNA content was estimated by flow cytometry. Very small intraspecific variation in DNA amount was found between lines of Triticeae diploid species collected from different habitats or between different morphs. In contrast to the constancy in nuclear DNA amount at the intraspecific level, there are significant differences in genome size between the various diploid species. Within the genus Aegilops , the 1C DNA amount ranged from 4.84 pg in A. caudata to 7.52 pg in A. sharonensis; among genera, the 1C DNA amount ranged from 4.18 pg in Heteranthelium piliferum to 9.45 pg in Secale montanum . No evidence was found for a smaller genome size in annual, self-pollinating species relative to perennial, cross-pollinating ones. Diploids that grow in the southern part of the group’s distribution have larger genomes than those growing in other parts of the distribution. The contrast between the low variation at the intraspecific level and the high variation at the interspecific one suggests that changes in genome size originated in close temporal proximity to the speciation event, i.e., before, during, or immediately after it. The possible effects of sudden changes in genome size on speciation processes are discussed.


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