Interpretation of karyotype evolution should consider chromosome structural constraints

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Authors

SCHUBERT Ingo LYSÁK Martin

Year of publication 2011
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Trends in Genetics
MU Faculty or unit

Central European Institute of Technology

Citation
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2011.03.004
Field Genetics and molecular biology
Keywords karyotype evolution; chromosome rearrangements; comparative genomics;
Description Comparative genetics, genomics and cytogenetics provide tools to trace the evolutionary history of extant genomes. Yet, the interpretation of rapidly increasing genomic data is not always done in agreement with constraints determined by chromosome structural features and by insights obtained from chromosome mutagenesis. The terms 'non-reciprocal chromosome translocation', 'chromosome fusion' and 'centromere shift' used to explain genomic differences among organisms are misleading and often do not correctly reflect the mechanisms of chromosome rearrangements underlying the evolutionary karyotypic variation. Here, we (re)interpret evolutionary genome alterations in a parsimonious way and demonstrate that results of comparative genomics and comparative chromosome painting can be explained on the basis of known primary and secondary chromosome rearrangements. Therefore, some widespread terms used in comparative and evolutionary genomics should be either avoided or redefined.
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