Repetitive DNAs and differentiation of sex chromosomes in neotropical fishes

Abstract

The processes working on sex chromosome differentiation are still not completely understood. However, the accumulation of repetitive DNA sequences has been shown to be one of the first steps in the early stages of such differentiation. In addition, regions with suppressed or no recombination have a potential to accumulate these DNA sequences and, for this reason, the absence of recombination between the sex chromosomes favors, by itself, the accumulation of repetitive sequences on these chromosomes during evolution. The diversity of sex-determining mechanisms in fish, alongside with the absence of heteromorphic sex chromosomes in many species, makes this group a useful model to better understand evolutionary processes of sex chromosomes in vertebrates, considering that fish occupy the basal position in the phylogeny of this group. In this review we draw attention to a preferential accumulation and enrichment in repetitive DNAs in sex chromosomes of many neotropical fish species in comparison with autosomes. This phenomenon has been observed between both morphologically differentiated and nascent sex chromosome systems, which highlight the potential role of these sequences in the differentiation of fish sex chromosomes generating differences in morphology and size between them.