Investigating the evolution of large meiotic rings of multiple X and Y sex chromosomes in two Leptodactylus frog species (Anura, Leptodactylidae)
A few species have evolved multiple sex chromosome systems with more than two Xs or Ys due to sex chromosome-autosome translocations. Among vertebrates, frogs (Anura) have the highest known number of such neo-sex chromosome systems, making them interesting for studying how such systems evolve. In this work, we investigated two Leptodactylus species, L. pentadactylus (LPE) and L. paraensis (LPA), with large ring multivalents in male meiosis, using genomic and cytogenetic investigation of repetitive DNA sequences, including satellite DNAs (satDNAs), and transposable elements (TEs). SatDNA mapping identify individual chromosomes in the LPE ring, and morphologies suggest that all chromosomes are shared with the LPA ring although a common ring origin is not firmly supported. In situ mapping suggests recent satDNA accumulation in subtelomeric regions since the split from the outgroups, likely unrelated to the translocations that created sex-linkage, which probably involved breaks in the pericentromeric regions.
Authors
- Jhon Alex Dziechciarz Vidal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5779-0443)
- Thomas Liehr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1672-3054)
- Amanda Bueno da Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3750-5122)
- Deborah Charlesworth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3939-9122)
- Qi Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7419-2047)
- Fábio Porto‐Foresti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8845-3845)
- Anderson José Baía Gomes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3887-3283)
- Wen‐Juan Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2585-6406)
- Ricardo Utsunomia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4565-6065)
- Marcelo de Bello Cioffi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4340-1464)
Institutions
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- Universidade Federal de São Carlos (BR)
- Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution (GB)
- Jena University Hospital (DE)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (BR)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Biology
- Published
- 2025-11-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-09151-z
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.63
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel