Dynamic karyotype evolution and multiple sex chromosomes in wood white butterflies

Trabajo presentado en la 19th International Chromosome Conference (ICC), celebrado en Bologna del 2 al 6 de septiembre de 2013.Lepidopteran genomes consist of small-sized holokinetic chromosomes with an ancestral chromosome number of n=31, and a prevalent WZ/ZZ sex chromosome system with female heterogamety. Although the holokinetic nature of lepidopteran chromosomes is supposed to facilitate karyotype evolution mainly due to chromosomal fusions and fissions, recent studies revealed a highly conserved synteny of genes between chromosomes of distantly related taxa and evolutionary stability of karyotypes. The high degree of conservation at the chromosomal level across the phylogenetic tree of Lepidoptera contrasts with exceptional diversity found in some taxa. A typical example is the butterfly genus Leptidea, which shows karyotype variability not only between but also within species. In this work we studied karyotypes of three cryptic Leptidea species (L. juvernica, L. sinapis, and L. reali) by means of standard and molecular cytogenetic techniques.This research was funded by GAAV IAA600960925, GAJU 052/2013/P, and 063/2012/P grants.N