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The Cercopithecini tribe includes terrestrial and arboreal clades whose relationships are controversial, with a high level of chromosome rearrangements. In order to provide new insights on the tribe's phylogeny, chromosome painting, using the complete set of human syntenic probes, was performed in Cercopithecus petaurista, a representative species of the Cercopithecini tribe. The results show C. petaurista with a highly rearranged karyotype characterized by the fission of human chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, and 12. These results compared with the literature data permit us to confirm the monophyly of the Cercopithecini tribe (fissions of chromosomes 5 and 6), as previously proposed by chromosomal and molecular data. Furthermore, we support the monophyly of the strictly arboreal Cercopithecus clade, previously proposed by the molecular approach, identifying chromosomal synapomorphies (fissions of chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 11, 12). We also add additional markers that can be useful for deciphering arboreal Cercopithecini phylogeny. For example, the fission of chromosome 8 is synapomorphy linking C. petaurista, C. erythrogaster, and C. nictitans among the arboreal species. Finally, a telomeric sequence probe was mapped on C. petaurista, showing only classic telomeric signals and giving no support to a previous hypothesis regarding a link between interspersed telomeric sequences in high rearranged genomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cercopithecini, or African guenon monkeys, are one of the most diverse clades of living primates and comprise the most species-rich clade of Catarrhini. Species identity is announced by flamboyant coloration of the facial and genital regions and, more cryptically, by vigorous chromosomal rearrangements among taxa. Beneath the skin, however, these animals are skeletally conservative and show low levels of genetic sequence divergence consonant with recent divergence between congeneric species. The guenons clearly demonstrate that morphological, cytogenetic, and reproductive differentiation proceed at different rates during speciation. We review diverse kinds of data in an effort to understand this conundrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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To search for cytogenetic signatures that can help to clarify evolutionary affinities among the five orders within the Euarchontoglires clade, we focused on associations of conserved syntenic blocks that have been accumulated in the karyotypes of Primates (Strepsirhini and Haplorhini), five families of Rodentia, Scandentia ( Tupaia belangeri), Dermoptera ( Galeopterus variegatus) and Lagomorpha ( Oryctolagus cuniculus). We examined available chromosome painting data to identify conserved chromosomes and chromosomal segments, and syntenic associations likely to have characterized the ancestral eutherian karyotype. The data set includes 161 characters that have been subjected to a concatenated analysis using maximum parsimony (MP) and Bayesian inference (BI). The phylogenetic pattern recovered is generally consistent with reconstructions based on molecular and morphological data (particularly with respect to higher systematic groupings), but there are several anomalies (e.g., in the position of the lagomorphs). Both MP and BI topologies have weak statistical support, as a consequence of the high number of autapomorphic and homoplastic character states that have evolved during the history of the clade. The vast majority of derived associations are located on the terminal portions of the branches, and very few can be identified to support deeper divergences in the tree, indicating that chromosomal structures are far more fluid that was previously recognized. The high levels of homoplasy reflected in our data suggest that the number of possible syntenic character states is limited by chromosomal structures, and the same associations occur repeatedly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late-prophase high-resolution chromosomes were successfully cultured for 22 of 27 Macaca mulatta samples. Twelve of the successful cultures were adequate for karyotyping high-resolution spreads. High-resolution chromosome technique provides an important contribution to primate genetics because it can be used to identify chromosomal anomalies undetected in metaphase spreads and may be useful for paternity exclusion analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]