Characterization of the satellite DNA content of the genome of the neotropical fish Psalidodon scabripinnis (Characiformes: Characidae)

• Grant number: 22/16748-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Patricia Pasquali Parise Maltempi
• Grantee: Gabriel Esbrisse dos Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Satellite DNAs (satDNAs) are non-coding sequences that are highly repeated in tandem, and are usually located in pericentromeric, centromeric and subtelomeric chromosomal regions, and being one of the most abundant components of the eukaryotic genome. These sequences are organized within species into different families, with each species having a library of satellites, whose set can be called a satellitome. The Characidae family, the most numerous within the order Characiformes, presents species with a high degree of complexity and diversity. Among the species complexes of the genus Psalidodon (Characiformes: Characidae) is Psalidodon scabripinnis, whose species are known for their karyotypic diversity, with cytotypes ranging from 2n = 46 to 2n = 50 chromosomes. To date, most studies on satellite DNA in fish have focused on the development of markers for evolutionary studies on B and sex chromosomes. The advancement of genomics and next-generation sequencing technologies, coupled with bioinformatics tools, such as RepeatExplorer2, TAREAN and RepeatMasker, has been enabling the characterization of the repetitive portions of genomes, leading to an increase in the number of satellites described in several species. To contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of repetitive sequences, this work aims to characterize the entire content of satellite DNAs in the genome of P. scabripinnis and describe the complete satellitome of this species.