Heterochromatin condensation and evolution of unique satellite-DNA families in two parasitic wasp species: Diadromus pulchellus and Eupelmus vuilleti (Hymenoptera).

Large quantities of satellite DNA families (15%-25% of the genome) were found in the DNA of two species of parasitic wasps, Diadromus pulchellus and Eupelmus vuilleti. In both species the satellite DNA was found to consist wholly or largely of a single family unique to that species. Several clones of each family were obtained and sequenced. Palindromes in each consensus sequence suggest the formation in vivo of hairpin structures that may play a role in the mode of heterochromatin condensation in these insects. The ancestral repeating motifs were determined from the consensus sequences. Plausible scenarios are presented for the evolution of the two satellite DNAs. The occurrence of only one family of satellite DNAs in both species may indicate that, in male haploids, such families have shorter persistence times than necessary for the origins of new duplicated sequences.