Analysis of repetitive sequences in the genome of Proceratophrys laticeps, a frog species endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 23/13746-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Patricia Pasquali Parise Maltempi
• Grantee: Natália Ayres Leite
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Satellite DNAs are characterized as repetitive DNA sequences organized in tandem, often present in large quantities in the heterochromatin of many organisms. In this study, repetitive sequences in the genome of the frog Proceratophrys laticeps will be analyzed. This species is found in the southeastern regions of the states of Bahia and Espírito Santo, and in the northeastern regions of the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In terms of cytogenetic data, the species P. laticeps has a diploid number of 2n = 22 chromosomes, with C-positive bands predominantly located as discrete blocks in the centromeric region of the chromosomes, and the absence of differentiated heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Through the analysis of genomic data from P. laticeps using bioinformatics tools such as RepeatExplorer2, TAREAN, and RepeatMasker, a comprehensive characterization of satellite DNA in this frog species will be conducted, including a comparative analysis of the abundance and divergence of these sequences in the genome. The characterization and comparative genomic abundance and divergence analyses are crucial for the study of repetitive sequences, especially from an evolutionary perspective of satellite DNA sequences. Therefore, studies on the genomic content in P. laticeps are of utmost importance, given the scarcity of research using sequenced genomes of anuran amphibians. Some studies have emphasized that anuran amphibians are excellent organisms for cytogenomic studies, and this work becomes interesting by adding genomic data and evolutionary associations of repetitive sequences to a group of endemic anuran amphibians from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.