Chromosome size-correlated and chromosome size-uncorrelated homogenization of centromeric repetitive sequences in New World quails.

Many families of centromeric repetitive DNA sequences isolated from Struthioniformes, Galliformes, Falconiformes, and Passeriformes are localized primarily to microchromosomes. However, it is unclear whether chromosome size-correlated homogenization is a common characteristic of centromeric repetitive sequences in Aves. New World and Old World quails have the typical avian karyotype comprising chromosomes of two distinct sizes, and C-positive heterochromatin is distributed in centromeric regions of most autosomes and the whole W chromosome. We isolated six types of centromeric repetitive sequences from three New World quail species (Colinus virginianus, CVI; Callipepla californica, CCA; and Callipepla squamata, CSQ; Odontophoridae) and one Old World quail species (Alectoris chukar, ACH; Phasianidae), and characterized the sequences by nucleotide sequencing, chromosome in situ hybridization, and filter hybridization. The 385-bp CVI-MspI, 591-bp CCA-BamHI, 582-bp CSQ-BamHI, and 366-bp ACH-Sau3AI fragments exhibited tandem arrays of the monomer unit, and the 224-bp CVI-HaeIII and 135-bp CCA-HaeIII fragments were composed of minisatellite-like and microsatellite-like repeats, respectively. ACH-Sau3AI was a homolog of the chicken nuclear membrane repeat sequence, whose homologs are common in Phasianidae. CVI-MspI, CCA-BamHI, and CSQ-BamHI showed high homology and were specific to the Odontophoridae. CVI-MspI was localized to microchromosomes, whereas CVI-HaeIII, CCA-BamHI, and CSQ-BamHI were mapped to almost all chromosomes. CCA-HaeIII was localized to five pairs of macrochromosomes and most microchromosomes. ACH-Sau3AI was distributed in three pairs of macrochromosomes and all microchromosomes. Centromeric repetitive sequences may be homogenized in chromosome size-correlated and -uncorrelated manners in New World quails, although there may be a mechanism that causes homogenization of centromeric repetitive sequences primarily between microchromosomes, which is commonly observed in phasianid birds.