What do we know about the heterochromatin of capuchin monkeys (Cebus: Platyrrhini)?

NIEVES, MARIELA; FANTINI, LUCIA; MUDRY, MARTA D.

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 123 p. 113 - 124

0024-4066

Cytogenetic studies in Cebus spp. have highlighted a peculiar genomic feature: the presence of conspicuous regionsof extracentromeric heterochromatin distributed throughout the karyotype. This study investigates the distribution,variability and composition of heterochromatin and their possible implications for genome dynamics. We performeda molecular cytogenetic analysis in 253 individuals from seven of the 12 currently recognized species. The propor-tion of heterochromatin was related to genome size and ranked, from smallest to largest, from C. xanthosternos toC. albifrons. Interspecies comparative genome hybridization analyses suggested that the differences among speciesare not related to heterochromatin content but to changes in the Y chromosome. The pattern revealed by DAPI/CMA 3 staining showed that Cebus heterochromatic DNA has a GC-rich composition. The distribution frequenciesof heteromorphisms and polymorphisms were not randomly distributed, because a distinguishable pattern could berecognized for each group. Cebus cay and C. nigritus had a higher level of heterochromatin variability than previ-ously reported. In conclusion, the wide variability among species of the genus Cebus is mostly due to the repetitiveDNA fraction of its genome.