Satellite DNA evolution in Corvides inferred from short and long reads

• Satellite DNA (satDNA) is a fast-evolving portion of eukaryotic genomes. The homogeneous and repetitive nature of such satellitomes causes problems during the assembly of genomes, and therefore it is still difficult to study satDNA in detail in non-model organisms as well as across broad evolutionary timescales. Here, we combined the use of short-read and long-read data to explore the diversity and evolution of satDNA between individuals of the same species and between genera of birds spanning ~40 millions of years of bird evolution using birds-of-paradise and Corvus species. These avian species highlighted the presence of a GC-rich Corvides satellitome composed of 61 satellite families and provided a set of candidates satDNA monomers for being centromeric on the basis of length, abundance, homogeneity and transcription. Surprisingly, we found that the satellitome of Corvus spp. rapidly diverged between closely related species while the satellitome appeared more similar between birds-of-paradise species belonging to different genera.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Evolutionsbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Evolutionary Biology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

birds

comparative genomics

crow

base composition

birds-of-paradise

satellitome

genomic dark matter

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)