Centric fusions in karyotype evolution of spiders

Entelegynae are the most specious group of spiders. Their karyotypes are characterized by the predominance of X1X20 sex chromosome system and exclusively acrocentric morphology of chromosomes. Mono-armed chromosomes can be the substrate for centric fusion, the rearrangement, in which two acrocentric chromosomes fuse at their centromeric regions and form single bi-armed chromosome. In Entelegynae, centric fusion events followed the "all or nothing" rule, where all acrocentric chromosomes fuse during one event or in a very rapid sequence and karyotype is fully saturated by bi-armed chromosomes. Although the cytogenetics of Entelegynae is relatively well studied, so far, "all or nothing" phenomenon has been observed only rarely, namely in 12 species from 5 families. In this thesis, new data about the occurrence of centric fusion in 12 species from 5 unrelated families are reported. In all cases the "all or nothing" rule was confirmed. Strong female meiotic drive is proposed as the main force responsible for changes in chromosomal morphology of Entelegynae. The persisting of bi-armed chromosomes is likely to be rare in Entelegynae. However, in the family Dictynidae, bi-armed chromosomes are fixed. For a better understanding of karyotype dynamics in this unique family, molecular cytogenetic approaches..