Integrating cytogenetics and genomics: evolution of sex chromosome systems in Harttia (Siluriformes, Loricariidae) species

• Grant number: 22/04261-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): December 20, 2022
• Effective date (End): June 19, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo de Bello Cioffi
• Grantee: Francisco de Menezes Cavalcante Sassi
• Supervisor: Thomas Liehr
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/02681-9 - Evolutionary relationships and demographic history in Loricariidae (Siluriformes) species, with emphasis on Harttia genus, BP.DR

Abstract

The student has developed 24 months of the project entitled "Evolutionary relationships and demographic history in species of Loricariidae (Siluriformes), with emphasis on the genus Harttia" (FAPESP 2020/02681-9), and the achieved results were published in the journals Genes (IF=4.096) and Biology (IF=5.079), were the student figures as the first author. Up to now, conventional (Giemsa and C-banding) and molecular cytogenetic procedures (chromosomal mapping of multigene families and some microsatellite repeats, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)) were realized, allowing the description of two sex chromosome systems in three distinct Harttia species. Thus, considering the good progress of the project and the student's involvement in other laboratory experiments, we aim to deepen into multipronged and modern molecular cytogenenomic approaches, including the isolation and characterization of a satellite DNA library, microdissection of chromosomes for chromosome painting experiments, and multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) investigations. These results will contribute to a better understanding of the evolutionary processes that shapes the current sex chromosome distribution among Harttia species, and consequently to the comprehension of fish genome evolution. The experiments will be performed in the laboratory of Molekulare Zytogenetik (Universitätsklinikum Jena - Germany), headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Liehr, researcher of global relevance in chromosome microdissection and FISH. In addition, besides the expected scientific advances, this proposal will provide a unique opportunity for the scientific training of the student, by interacting with a renowned group of German researchers and learning new study methodologies currently employed in Dr. Liehr laboratory. (AU)