Phylogenetic reconstruction by cross-species chromosome painting and G-banding in four species of Phyllostomini tribe (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in the Brazilian Amazon: an independent evidence for monophyly.

Talita Fernanda Augusto Ribas,Julio Cesar Pieczarka,Cleusa Yoshiko Nagamachi,Patricia Caroline Mary O'Brien,Jorge Das Dores Rissino,Fengtang Yang,Luis Reginaldo Ribeiro Rodrigues,Anderson José Baia Gomes,Malcolm Andrew Ferguson-Smith,Ben J Mans

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122845

Abstract

The subfamily Phyllostominae comprises taxa with a variety of feeding strategies. From the cytogenetic point of view, Phyllostominae shows different rates of chromosomal evolution between genera, with Phyllostomus hastatus probably retaining the ancestral karyotype for the subfamily. Since chromosomal rearrangements occur rarely in the genome and have great value as phylogenetic markers and in taxonomic characterization, we analyzed three species: Lophostoma silvicola (LSI), Phyllostomus discolor (PDI) and Tonatia saurophila (TSA), representing the tribe Phyllostomini, collected in the Amazon region, by classic and molecular cytogenetic techniques in order to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships within this tribe. LSA has a karyotype of 2n=34 and FN=60, PDI has 2n=32 and FN=60 and TSA has 2n=16 and FN=20. Comparative analysis using G-banding and chromosome painting show that the karyotypic complement of TSA is highly rearranged relative to LSI and PHA, while LSI, PHA and PDI have similar karyotypes, differing by only three chromosome pairs. Nearly all chromosomes of PDI and PHA were conserved in toto, except for chromosome 15 that was changed by a pericentric inversion. A strongly supported phylogeny (bootstrap=100 and Bremer=10 steps), confirms the monophyly of Phyllostomini. In agreement with molecular topologies, TSA was in the basal position, while PHA and LSI formed sister taxa. A few ancestral syntenies are conserved without rearrangements and most associations are autapomorphic traits for Tonatia or plesiomorphic for the three genera analyzed here. The karyotype of TSA is highly derived in relation to that of other phyllostomid bats, differing from the supposed ancestral karyotype of Phyllostomidae by multiple rearrangements. Phylogenies based on chromosomal data are independent evidence for the monophyly of tribe Phyllostomini as determined by molecular topologies and provide additional support for the paraphyly of the genus Tonatia by the exclusion of the genus Lophostoma.

Highlights

Phyllostominae Gray, 1825, includes taxa that have diversified feed strategies, including carnivorous, strictly insectivorous and a combination of frugivorous and insectivorous [1,2]
The results show that all nine Tonatia saurophila have 2n = 16 and fundamental numbers (FN) = 20, with three pairs being bi-armed and four one-armed chromosomes pairs; the X is a medium-sized submetacentric and the Y a small acrocentric (Fig 1)
No other Phyllostomus hastatus (PHA) or Carollia brevicauda (CBR) probe hybridized in this region

Summary

Introduction

Phyllostominae Gray, 1825, includes taxa that have diversified feed strategies, including carnivorous, strictly insectivorous and a combination of frugivorous and insectivorous [1,2]. Baker et al [15] proposed a classification with nine genera grouped into three tribes for the subfamily Phyllostominae: Lophostoma, Mimon, Phylloderma, Phyllostomus, Tonatia (Phyllostomini), Macrophyllum, Trachops (Macrophyllini), Chrotopterus and Vampyrum (Vampyrini). This arrangement was recently supported by Hoffmann et al [5]. The genera Macrotus, Micronycteris, Lampronycteris, Lonchorhina, Trinycteris and Glyphonycteris which were classified within Phyllostominae according to Koopman [18], McKenna and Bell [19], Simmons and Voss [6], Wetterer et al [16], and Jones et al [20], were removed and classified in another subfamily

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