Comparative Primate Molecular Cytogenetics: Revealing Ancestral Genomes, Marker Order, and Evolutionary New Centromeres

摘要: In this review, we focus on the cytogenetic level of primate genome organization: chromosomes and karyotypes. Reconstructing ancestors is an obligatory goal comparative cytogenetics. Cytogenetic comparison between species has a long history, going back to early decades last century. Classical cytogeneticists provided basic data number chromosomes, their size, relative position centromere many species. Chromosome banding showed high conservation among humans, apes, monkeys, but establishing chromosomal homology distantly related or characterized by rapid evolution remained speculative until advent molecular painting soon resolved problems accurately determining homology. Painting probes could easily map all translocation did not provide information intrachromosomal rearrangements. Then, FISH with cloned DNA high-resolution comparisons marker order along chromosomes. Results revealed that shifts (“evolutionary new centromere” ENC) are important process in modifying genomes par translocations inversions. Comparison ENC clinical neocentromeres shows evolutionary perspectives can compelling underlying explicative grounds for contemporary genomic phenomena.