Genome differentiation in a species pair of coregonine fishes: an extremely rapid speciation driven by stress-activated retrotransposons mediating extensive ribosomal DNA multiplications.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sympatric species pairs are particularly common in freshwater fishes associated with postglacial lakes in northern temperate environments. The nature of divergences between co-occurring sympatric species, factors contributing to reproductive isolation and modes of genome evolution is a much debated topic in evolutionary biology addressed by various experimental tools. To the best of our knowledge, nobody approached this field using molecular cytogenetics. We examined chromosomes and genomes of one postglacial species pair, sympatric European winter-spawning Coregonus albula and the local endemic dwarf-sized spring-spawning C. fontanae, both originating in Lake Stechlin. We have employed molecular cytogenetic tools to identify the genomic differences between the two speci

SUBMITTER: Symonova R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3585787 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature