B-chromosome frequency stability in Prochilodus lineatus (Characiformes, Prochilodontidae)

Genetica. 2010 Mar;138(3):281-4. doi: 10.1007/s10709-009-9420-9. Epub 2009 Nov 1.

Abstract

The genus Prochilodus includes individuals ranging in size from medium to large, being highly relevant for commercial and subsistence fishing. Prochilodus species have a diploid number of 2n = 54 chromosomes and up to seven supernumerary (B) microchromosomes. Previous research has shown that B frequency increased drastically in the Mogi-Guaçu river population of Prochilodus lineatus in the early 1980s, whereas it remained about constant in the 1990s. Here we analyses B frequency in this population during the 2003-2007 period and have found that frequency has not changed significantly since 1987, and that these B chromosomes do not show the intra-individual variation in number that characterized them in the 1980s. This indicates that these B chromosomes have been neutralized, after their invasion, through their mitotic stabilization.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brazil
  • Chromosomal Instability*
  • Chromosomes / genetics*
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Fishes / genetics*
  • Genetic Drift
  • Genetic Variation
  • Genome
  • Mitosis
  • Selection, Genetic
  • Time Factors