Comparative analysis of chromosomes in the Palaearctic bush-crickets of tribe Pholidopterini (Orthoptera, Tettigoniinae)

Abstract

The present study focused on the evolution of the karyotype in four genera of the tribe Pholidopterini: Eupholidoptera Maran, 1953, Parapholidoptera Maran, 1953, Pholidoptera Wesmaël, 1838, Uvarovistia Maran, 1953. Chromosomes were analyzed using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with 18S rDNA and (TTAGG)n telomeric probes, and classical techniques, such as C-banding, silver impregnation and fluorochrome DAPI/CMA3 staining. Most species retained the ancestral diploid chromosome number 2n = 31 (male) or 32 (female), while some of the taxa, especially a group of species within genus Pholidoptera, evolved a reduced chromosome number 2n = 29. All species show the same sex determination system X0/XX. In some taxa, a pericentric inversion has changed the morphology of the ancestral acrocentric X chromosome to the biarmed X. The rDNA loci coincided with active NORs and C-band/ CG-rich segments. A comparison of the location of the single rDNA/NOR in the genus Pholidoptera suggests that reduced chromosome number results from Robertsonian translocation between two pairs of autosomes, one carrying the rDNA/NOR. The results constitute a step towards better understanding of the chromosomal reorganization and evolution within the tribe Phaneropterini and the whole subfamily Tettigoniinae.