Making the Genome Huge: The Case of Triatoma delpontei, a Triatominae Species with More than 50% of Its Genome Full of Satellite DNA

Pablo Mora; Sebastián Pita; Eugenia E Montiel; José M Rico-Porras; Teresa Palomeque; Francisco Panzera; Pedro Lorite

doi:10.3390/genes14020371

Making the Genome Huge: The Case of Triatoma delpontei, a Triatominae Species with More than 50% of Its Genome Full of Satellite DNA

Genes (Basel). 2023 Jan 31;14(2):371. doi: 10.3390/genes14020371.

Authors

Pablo Mora¹, Sebastián Pita², Eugenia E Montiel¹, José M Rico-Porras¹, Teresa Palomeque¹, Francisco Panzera², Pedro Lorite¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Experimental Biology, Genetics Area, University of Jaén, Paraje las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain.
² Evolutionary Genetic Section, Faculty of Science, University of the Republic, Iguá 4225, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay.

Abstract

The genome of Triatoma delpontei Romaña & Abalos 1947 is the largest within Heteroptera, approximately two to three times greater than other evaluated Heteroptera genomes. Here, the repetitive fraction of the genome was determined and compared with its sister species Triatoma infestans Klug 1834, in order to shed light on the karyotypic and genomic evolution of these species. The T. delpontei repeatome analysis showed that the most abundant component in its genome is satellite DNA, which makes up more than half of the genome. The T. delpontei satellitome includes 160 satellite DNA families, most of them also present in T. infestans. In both species, only a few satellite DNA families are overrepresented on the genome. These families are the building blocks of the C-heterochromatic regions. Two of these satellite DNA families that form the heterochromatin are the same in both species. However, there are satellite DNA families highly amplified in the heterochromatin of one species that in the other species are in low abundance and located in the euchromatin. Therefore, the present results depicted the great impact of the satellite DNA sequences in the evolution of Triatominae genomes. Within this scenario, satellitome determination and analysis led to a hypothesis that explains how satDNA sequences have grown on T. delpontei to reach its huge genome size within true bugs.

Keywords: Chagas disease vectors; Triatominae; fluorescence in situ hybridization; genome evolution; repetitive DNA; satellite DNA; satellitome.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
DNA, Satellite
Genomics
Heterochromatin
Triatoma* / genetics
Triatominae* / genetics

Substances

DNA, Satellite
Heterochromatin

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the “Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica” (CSIC-Udelar, project grant no. 160); the “Programa de Desarrollo de las Ciencias Básicas” (PEDECIBA); the “Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación” (ANII) from Uruguay; the Spanish Junta de Andalucía through the “Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020”.