Chromosomal Fusions Promote Speciation in Subterranean Blind Mole Rats
The genomic mechanisms underlying large-scale chromosomal rearrangements and their evolutionary consequences remain poorly understood. Here, we generated chromosome-level genomes for two sister species pairs of blind mole rats that differ in chromosome numbers. We identified five chromosome fusions during the divergence from a common ancestor (2n = 60). Three shared fusions gave rise to the Spalax galili (2n = 52)-S. golani (2n = 54) clade and accompanied its divergence from the S. carmeli (2n = 58)-S. judaei (2n = 60) clade. Both S. galili and S. carmeli further underwent an independent fusion. These fusions, facilitated by repetitive elements, were associated with changes in three-dimensional genome architecture. Notably, we found reduced gene flow near fusion points. Chromosomal fusions correlated with signatures of selection and may have become fixed through centromeric repeat expansion. Together, these findings provide a genome-wide framework for investigating how chromosomal fusions relate to genome organization and lineage divergence.
Authors
- Kay Lucek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2253-2556)
- Xiaolong Liang
- Yinjia Wang
- Matěj Lövy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6451-2393)
- E. Nevo
- Sanyuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8127-1681)
- Zachariah Gompert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2248-2488)
- Na Wan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8122-350X)
- Qijiao Duan
- Zhuoran Kuang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3927-6149)
- Leyan Mao
- Richard H. ffrench‐Constant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5385-9888)
- Zhilong Feng
- Xi Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8523-3967)
- Wenyu LIU
- Xiaojie Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5878-6562)
- Yueting Bu
- Jiaqi Chen
- Kexin Li
- Xuan An
- Wei Shen
Institutions
- Utah State University (US)
- Sewanee: The University of the South (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Qufu Normal University (CN)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (CZ)
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (CN)
- Institute of Zoology (CN)
- University of Neuchâtel (CH)
- Lanzhou University (CN)
- University of Haifa (IL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecular Ecology
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.70331
- Primary Topic
- Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Lanzhou University
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Qinghai Provincial Department of Science and Technology