Evaluation of intra- and interspecific divergence of satellite DNA sequences by nucleotide frequency calculation and pairwise sequence comparison

Satellite DNA sequences are known to be highly variable and to have been subjected to concerted evolution that homogenizes member sequences within species. We have analyzed the mode of evolution of satellite DNA sequences in four fishes from the genus Diplodus by calculating the nucleotide frequency of the sequence array and the phylogenetic distances between member sequences. Calculation of nucleotide frequency and pairwise sequence comparison enabled us to characterize the divergence among member sequences in this satellite DNA family. The results suggest that the evolutionary rate of satellite DNA in D. bellottii is about two-fold greater than the average of the other three fishes, and that the sequence homogenization event occurred in D. puntazzo more recently than in the others. The procedures described here are effective to characterize mode of evolution of satellite DNA

A high quality assembly of the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) genome reveals the structure of two sex determination regions

Background  Tilapias are the second most farmed fishes in the world and a sustainable source of food. Like many other fish, tilapias are sexually dimorphic and sex is a commercially important trait in these fish. In this study, we developed a significantly improved assembly of the tilapia genome using the latest genome sequencing methods and show how it improves the characterization of two sex determination regions in two tilapia species.  Results  A homozygous clonal XX female Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) was sequenced to 44X coverage using Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) SMRT sequencing. Dozens of candidate de novo assemblies were generated and an optimal assembly (contig NG50 of 3.3Mbp) was selected using principal component analysis of likelihood scores calculated from several paired-end sequencing libraries. Comparison of the new assembly to the previous O. niloticus genome assembly reveals that recently duplicated portions of the genome are now well represented. The overall number of genes in the new assembly increased by 27.3%, including a 67% increase in pseudogenes. The new tilapia genome assembly correctly represents two recentvasagene duplication events that have been verified with BAC sequencing. At total of 146Mbp of additional transposable element sequence are now assembled, a large proportion of which are recent insertions. Large centromeric satellite repeats are assembled and annotated in cichlid fish for the first time. Finally, the new assembly identifies the long-range structure of both a ~9Mbp XY sex determination region on LG1 in O. niloticus, and a ~50Mbp WZ sex determination region on LG3 in the related species O. aureus.  Conclusions  This study highlights the use of long read sequencing to correctly assemble recent duplications and to characterize repeat-filled regions of the genome. The study serves as an example of the need for high quality genome assemblies and provides a framework for identifying sex determining genes in tilapia and related fish species

Characterisation of the chromosome fusions in Oreochromis karongae

Oreochromis karongae, one of the "chambo" tilapia species from Lake Malawi, has a karyotype of 2n = 38, making it one of the few species investigated to differ from the typical tilapia karyotype (2n = 44). The O. karongae karyotype consists of one large subtelocentric pair of chromosomes, four medium-sized pairs (three subtelocentric and one submetacentric) and 14 small pairs. The five largest pairs could be distinguished from each other on the basis of size, morphology and a series of fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) probes. The largest pair is easily distinguished on the basis of size and a chromosome 1 (linkage group 3) bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) FISH probe from Oreochromis niloticus. BAC clones from O. niloticus chromosome 2 (linkage group 7) hybridised to one of the medium-sized subtelocentric chromosome pairs (no. 5) of O. karongae, distinguishing the ancestral medium-sized pair from the three other medium-sized chromosome pairs (nos. 2, 3 and 4) that appear to have resulted from fusions. SATA repetitive DNA hybridised to the centromeres of all 19 chromosome pairs and also revealed the locations of the relic centromeres in the three fused pairs. Telomeric (TTAGGG)n repeats were identified in the telomeres of all chromosomes, and an interstitial telomeric site (ITS) was identified in three chromosomal pairs (no. 2, 3 and 4). Additionally, two ITS sites were identified in the largest chromosome pair (pair 1), confirming the origin of this chromosome from three ancestral chromosomes. SATA and ITS sites allowed the orientation of the fusions in pairs 2, 3 and 4, which all appear to have been in different orientations (q-q, p-q and p-p, respectively). One of these fusions (O. karongae chromosome pair no. 2) involves a small chromosome (equivalent to linkage group 1), which in O. niloticus carries the main sex-determining gene. 4′,6-Diamidino-2-phenyloindole staining of the synaptonemal complex in male O. karongae revealed the presumptive positions of the kinetochores, which correspond well to the centromeric positions observed in the mitotic karyotype