Deepen into the satellitome of Harttia: investigations across distinct sex chromosome systems

• Grant number: 23/08116-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 07, 2023
• End date: January 26, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo de Bello Cioffi
• Grantee: Francisco de Menezes Cavalcante Sassi
• Supervisor: Tariq Ezaz
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Canberra (UC), Australia
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/02681-9 - Evolutionary relationships and demographic history in Loricariidae (Siluriformes) species, with emphasis on Harttia genus, BP.DR

Abstract

Up to now, the student has developed 36 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. Additionally, developed a BEPE stay (FAPESP 2022/04261-2) in Universitätsklinikum Jena - Germany where isolated whole chromosome painting probes and the satellitome of Harttia villasboas, a fish species that possess a multiple sex chromosome system X1X2Y. The results from this international visit are under review at Scientific Reports (IF=4.996), and Frontiers in Genetics (IF=4.772). For the last paper concerning the satellitome, we aim to deepen into the analysis of the genomic sequences obtained by the satellitome isolation of H. villasboas in addition to new satellitomes from other Harttia species. These results will allow a better understanding of the evolution of fish sex chromosome systems, and to the dynamics of satellite sequences on genomes. We aim to highlight if shared satellites are being recruited to the distinct sex chromosome systems of Harttia and the role of the diversity of sequences on karyotype evolution of this group. Bioinformatic investigations will be performed in the laboratory headed by Prof. Dr. Tariq Ezaz, researcher of global relevance in the evolution of vertebrate genomes. This proposal will provide an extension of the student's scientific training, integrating bioinformatics and genomic methodologies that are not performed in the home laboratory in Brazil. (AU)