Background: DNA tandem repeats (TRs) are often abundant and occupy discrete regions in eukaryotic genomes. These TRs often cause or generate chromosomal rearrangements, which, in turn, drive chromosome evolution and speciation. Tracing the chromosomal distribution of TRs could therefore provide insights into the chromosome dynamics and speciation among closely related taxa. The basic chromosome number in the genus Senna is 2n = 28, but dysploid species like Senna tora have also been observed.
Objective: To understand the dynamics of these TRs and their impact on S. tora dysploidization.
Methods: We performed a comparative fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis among nine closely related Senna species and compared the chromosomal distribution of these repeats from a cytotaxonomic perspective by using the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequence to infer phylogenetic relationships.
Results: Of the nine S. tora TRs, two did not show any FISH signal whereas seven TRs showed similar and contrasting patterns to other Senna species. StoTR01_86, which was localized in the pericentromeric regions in all S. tora, but not at the nucleolar organizer region (NOR) site, was colocalized at the NOR site in all species except in S. siamea. StoTR02_7_tel was mostly localized at chromosome termini, but some species had an interstitial telomeric repeat in a few chromosomes. StoTR05_180 was distributed in the subtelomeric region in most species and was highly amplified in the pericentromeric region in some species. StoTR06_159 was either absent or colocalized in the NOR site in some species, and StoIGS_463, which was localized at the NOR site in S. tora, was either absent or localized at the subtelomeric or pericentromeric regions in other species.
Conclusions: These data suggest that TRs play important roles in S. tora dysploidy and suggest the involvement of 45S rDNA intergenic spacers in "carrying" repeats during genome reshuffling.
Keywords: Chromosome rearrangements; Dysploidy; FISH; Repetitive elements; Senna; Tandem repeats.