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Turkish Journal of Zoology

Abstract

Karyotype diversification and chromosome mutations (or macromutations) such as  inversions, fusions, and fissions represent understudied factors of biological evolution.  We present in this study one of the first experimental cytogenetic analyses  on the Malagasy day geckos of the genus Phelsuma. A molecular analysis was  performed using a trait of the mitochondrial 12S and a comparative chromosome  study with traditional Giemsa coloration, Ag-NOR staining and sequential C-banding  (C-banding + Giemsa + fluorochromes) on nine individuals of Phelsuma from different  localities. The molecular analysis allowed unambiguous identification of  three species (P. lineata, P. laticauda, and P. standingi), while two additional samples  likely belong to a still formally undescribed lineage, here named Phelsuma cf.  flavigularis. The comparative cytogenetic analysis showed that three of the studied  species (P. lineata, P. laticauda and P. cf. flavigularis) have a karyotype composed of  2n = 36 with all acrocentric chromosomes gradually decreasing in length. In turn, P.  standingi showed a karyotype of 2n = 32 with two large metacentric pairs (probably  originated from two chromosome fusions) and fourteen acrocentric pairs. NOR loci  were alternately localized in the study samples on the first (in P. laticauda), the third  (in P. standingi), and the 15th chromosome pair (in P. lineata). Sequential C-banding  indicated a scarce amount of heterochromatin in all species analyzed, mostly on the  centromeric, pericentromeric and telomeric regions of most chromosome pairs.  Adding this new data to those available from the literature, we show that common  evolutionary trends characterize several clades of the Malagasy Gekkoninae.

Author ORCID Identifier

MARCELLO MEZZASALMA: 0000-0002-7246-9831

GAETANO ODIERNA: 0000-0002-1579-7126

FABIO GUARINO: 0000-0002-1511-7792

ELVIRA BRUNELLI: 0000-0003-3669-1395

DOI

10.55730/1300-0179.3270

Keywords

Evolution, karyotype, Squamata, geckos, speciation, Madagascar

First Page

275

Last Page

283

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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