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Concerted evolution, a slow process for ant satellite DNA: study of the satellite DNA in the Aphaenogaster genus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

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Abstract

A family of satellite DNA is analyzed in seven ant species from the genus Aphaenogaster. This satellite DNA is organized as tandemly repeated sequences with a consensus sequence of 160 bp in length. The sampled sequences show a high similarity and belong to the same family of satellite DNA. However in Aphaenogaster spinosa, two types of repeat clearly differentiated have been found. Phylogenetic analyses using satellite DNA show that sequences do not cluster in a species-specific way, with one exception. Concretely, the second type of repeats of A. spinosa (APSP-II) which constitutes a new satellite DNA subfamily. The obtained results with satellite DNA are compared with those obtained using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to determine the correlation between evolution of satellite DNA and phylogenetic relationships among the analyzed ants. The high interspecific similarity for the satellite DNA seems not to be in concordance with the concerted evolution pattern, commonly accepted to explain the evolution of satellite DNA. However, the accumulated data suggest that evolution of satellite DNA in ants follows the concerted evolution pattern but that this process is slow in relation with other organisms, probably due to the eusociality and haplodiploidy of these insects.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Junta de Andalucía (through the programs “Ayudas a Grupos de Investigación,” Group BIO220, and by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (through project CGL2011-23841, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund). We thank Dr. Alain Lenoir from University of Tours (France) for providing us of the A. spinosa sample used in the present paper.

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  1. M. Muñoz-López

    Present address: GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncology, Granada, Spain

  2. J.A. Carrillo

    Present address: BBSSPA, Biobanco del Sistema Sanitario Público de Andalucía, Granada, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Experimental, Área de Genética, Universidad de Jaén, 23071, Jaén, Spain

    P. Lorite, M. Muñoz-López, J.A. Carrillo, O. Sanllorente, J. Vela, P. Mora, M.I. Torres & T. Palomeque

  2. Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    A. Tinaut

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  1. P. Lorite
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Lorite, P., Muñoz-López, M., Carrillo, J. et al. Concerted evolution, a slow process for ant satellite DNA: study of the satellite DNA in the Aphaenogaster genus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Org Divers Evol 17, 595–606 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-017-0333-7

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