Characterisation of the S1 satellite DNA family in Rana dalmatina
In this study, the DNA of Rana dalmatina was digested with Asp 718I and the two bands of highly repeated DNA produced were cloned and characterised. The largest fragment (494 bp) corresponded to the entire repetitive unit of the major satellite DNA (RdS1a), while the smaller fragment of 385 bp corresponded to the major fragment of RdS1a produced by digestion. A fragment of 332 bpbcorresponding to the repetitive unit of satellite S1b (RdS1b) was instead achieved by digestion with Eco RV. RdS1b is highly homologous to the corresponding portion of the repetition of RdS1a and presents the first 36 bp repeated and inverted. This suggested that RdS1b would have been derived from satellite S1a by two distinct and subsequent events. Further, the high sequence homology and length between RdS1a and the S1a of Rana italica (RiS1a) confirmed the hypothesis that the satellite S1a is antecedent to S1b and inherited from a common ancestor. Southern blots of R. dalmatina genomic DNA digested with Asp 718I produced hybrid bands of fragments of different sizes containing in addition to the satellite S1a, also one or more copies of the S1b satellites. The only sequenced band at the moment corresponded to the repetitive unit of the satellite RdS1a + b (826 bp) deleted of the fragment Asp 718I less than RdS1a (109 bp), while the other double bands should almost certainly correspond to repetitive units of satellites RdS1a + 2b and RdS1a + 3b. Our data suggested different satellite DNA organisation in R. dalmatina, including the tandem structure of the repetitive units of the RdS1a or RdS1b. Our data also suggested the existence in R. dalmatina of at least four different types of hybrid repeating units in all the populations examined.