Evolution of sex chromosomes: microdissection and chromosome painting in the Erythrinidae fish family (Characiformes)

• Grant number: 12/00248-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: July 10, 2012
• End date: October 09, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Carlos Bertollo
• Grantee: Marcelo de Bello Cioffi
• Supervisor: Thomas Liehr
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/14259-0 - Chromosome Painting and the Evolution of Sex Chromosomes in the Erythrinidae Fish Family (Characiformes), BP.PD

Abstract

The Erythrinidae family, although distributed throughout the Neotropical region, is relatively small among the Characiformes, and has been an excellent model for studies on karyotype and and sex chromosome's evolution. In fact, this family is high diversified in terms of karyotype structure, varying from several karyomoprhs associated with the same nominal species to species groups with a conserved karyotype structure. In particular, several sex chromosomes systems (simple and multiple, nascent or well-differentiated) occur in this family, alongside with species lacking heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Thus, in view of the excellent model offered by the Erythrinidae fishes to explore the processes involved in evolution and differentiation of sex chromosomes, this project aims to carry out the microdissection of sex chromosomes and chromosome painting experiments using the technique of multicolor FISH (m-FISH) in Erytrinidae species that do not present heteromorphic sex chromosomes. The experiments will be performed in the laboratory of Molekulare Zytogenetik (Universitätsklinikum Jena - Germany), headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Liehr, researcher of global significance in chromosome microdissection and FISH. The data obtained will make it possible to elucidate the fundamental aspects of the evolution of sex chromosomes among fishes, considering the complex investigation of these chromosomes between species, between different species of the same genus, as well as between different genders of the same family. Finally, the results also make important contributions to the understanding of the evolution of sex chromosomes in vertebrates as a whole. (AU)