The sunbittern (Eurypyga helias) is a South American Gruiformes, the only member of Family Eurypigidae. In most phylogenetic proposals, it is placed in a more distant position than other families of the so-called “core Gruiformes”. Different studies based on molecular, morphological and biogeographical data suggest that the Eurypigidae is closely related to the kagu (Rhynochetos jubatus), the only species in Rynochetidae, another family not included in the core Gruiformes. Here, the karyotype of the sunbittern is described for the first time, by classical and molecular cytogenetics, using whole chromosome probes derived from Gallus gallus and Leucopternis albicollis. We found a diploid number of 80, with only one pair of biarmed autosomal macrochromosomes, similar to that observed in the kagu. Chromosome painting revealed that most syntenies found in the avian putative ancestral karyotype (PAK) were conserved in the sunbittern. However, PAK1, PAK2, and PAK5 corresponded to two chromosome pairs each. Probes derived from L. albicollis confirm that fissions in PAK1 and PAK2 were centric, whereas in PAK5 the fission is interstitial. In addition, there is fusion of segments homologous to PAK2q and PAK5. From a phylogenetic point of view, comparisons of our results with two other Gruiformes belonging to family Rallidae suggest that the PAK5q fission might be a synapomorphy for Gruiformes. Fissions in PAK1 and PAK2 are found only in Eurypigidae, and might also occur in Rynochetidae, in view of the similar chromosomal morphology between the sunbittern and the kagu. This suggests a close phylogenetic relationship between Eurypigidae and Rynochetidae, whose common ancestor was separated by the Gondwana vicariancy in South America and New Caledonia, respectively.
Programa de Pós Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Universitário do Guamá, Belém-PA-Brazil;Laboratório de Cultura de Tecidos e Citogenética, SAMAM, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Ananindeua, PA, Brazil;Universidade Federal do Pará, ICB, Faculdade de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Universitário do Guamá, Belém-PA-Brazil;Programa de Pós Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Universitário do Guamá, Belém-PA-Brazil;Laboratório de Cultura de Tecidos e Citogenética, SAMAM, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Ananindeua, PA, Brazil;Programa de Pós Graduação em Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Universitário do Guamá, Belém-PA-Brazil;Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics, University of Cambridge Department of Veterinary Medicine, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics, University of Cambridge Department of Veterinary Medicine, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Laboratório de Cultura de Tecidos e Citogenética, SAMAM, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Ananindeua, PA, Brazil;Instiuto de Ciências Exatas e Naturais, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém-PA-Brazil
Recommended Citation:
Ivanete de Oliveira Furo,Amanda Almeida Monte,Michelly da Silva dos Santos,et al. Cytotaxonomy of Eurypyga helias (Gruiformes, Eurypygidae): First Karyotypic Description and Phylogenetic Proximity with Rynochetidae[J]. PLOS ONE,2015-01-01,10(12)