Chromosomal diversity and molecular divergence among three undescribed species of Neacomys (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) separated by Amazonian rivers

Abstract

The Neacomys genus (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) is distributed in the Amazon region, with some species limited to a single endemic area, while others may occur more widely. The number of species within the genus and their geographical boundaries are not known accurately, due to their high genetic diversity and difficulties in taxonomic identification. In this work we collected Neacomys specimens from both banks of the Tapajós River in eastern Amazon, and studied them using chromosome painting with whole chromosome probes of Hylaeamys megacephalus (HME; Rodentia, Sigmodontinae), and molecular analysis using haplotypes of mitochondrial genes COI and Cytb. Chromosome painting shows that Neacomys sp. A (NSP-A, 2n = 58/FN = 68) and Neacomys sp. B (NSP-B, 2n = 54/FN = 66) differ by 11 fusion/fission events, one translocation, four pericentric inversions and four heterochromatin amplification events. Using haplotypes of the concatenated mitochondrial genes COI and Cyt b, Neacomys sp. (2n = 58/FN = 64 and 70) shows a mean divergence of 6.2% for Neacomys sp. A and 9.1% for Neacomys sp. B, while Neacomys sp. A and Neacomys sp. B presents a medium nucleotide divergence of 7.4%. Comparisons were made with other published Neacomys data. The Tapajós and Xingu Rivers act as geographic barriers that define the distribution of these Neacomys species. Furthermore, our HME probes reveal four synapomorphies for the Neacomys genus (associations HME 20/[13,22]/4, 6a/ 21, [9,10]/7b/[9,10] and 12/[16,17]) and demonstrate ancestral traits of the Oryzomyini tribe (HME 8a and 8b, 18 and 25) and Sigmodontinae subfamily (HME 15 and 24), which can be used as taxonomic markers for these groups.