Evolution and speciation of Neotropical deer: a cytogenetic and molecular approach.

• Grant number: 21/14536-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: José Maurício Barbanti Duarte
• Grantee: Agda Maria Bernegossi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/07014-8 - The use of actual topotypes to produce genotypes and cytotypes in the taxonomic review of the Mazama genus: the basis for the species conservation, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Deer are recognized by their extensive karyotypic diversity, a reflection of their high rate of chromosomal evolution. This karyotype diversity is observed in similar morphological groups which results in the existence of cryptic species complexes and taxonomic uncertainties. Despite the great interest in the cytogenetic study in deer, the expressive chromosomal evolution remains unexplored in Neotropical genera. The recent production of a cytogenetic map with 109 new markers for the species Subulo gouazoubira, which retained the ancestral hypothetical karyotype, through the hybridization of BAC clone probes derived from Bos taurus, presents itself as an excellent starting point for understanding the pattern of chromosomal evolution in deer. Thus, the objective of this project is to evaluate the pattern of chromosomal evolution of seventeen species of Neotropical deer by hybridizing the new markers mapped in the basal karyotype, on metaphases of other species belonging to the group. Moreover, describe the occurrence of inter and intrachromosomal rearrangements for each studied species and perform a chromosomal phylogeny. Finally, integrating data from molecular cytogenetics and chromosomal phylogeny with a dated mitochondrial DNA phylogeny, infer evolutionary trajectories and chromosomal rearrangements in specific lineages, and verify the relationship between chromosomal evolution and molecular divergence.