Restriction endonuclease and molecular analyses of three rat genomes with special reference to chromosome rearrangement and speciation problems.

When differences are found between related species of organisms, it is often assumed that the differences themselves are causal factors either in speciation itself or in processes related to speciation. Two recent proposals on the functions of satellite DNA (Hatch et al., 1976 and Fry and Salser 1977) are that (a) large amounts of satellite DNA are important in facilitating chromosome rearrangements and hence cytogenetic evolution, and (b) satellite DNA differences between homologous chromosomes lead to pairing difficulties and are important in generating infertility barriers and hence speciation. If these proposals were to have some generality, one could expect organisms with very low amounts of highly repeated DNA to exhibit few chromosome rearrangements and to be evolutionarily conservative in a cytogenetic sense.--We have chosen two very closely related species of rat which are phenotypically almost indistinguishable and which have undergone massive genome reorganization. They differ by 11 major centric rearrangements (2n = 32, 2n = 50). We have characterised their genomes by restriction endonuclease digestions, thermal denaturations, analytical ultracentrifugations and reassociation techniques, and have found that they have virtually no highly repeated DNA. Thus the 11 major chromosomal rearrangements have been fixed in present day genomes with hardly any highly repeated DNA, centric or otherwise.--It appears therefore, that a large amount of highly repeated DNA is not obligatory for the formation and fixation of chromosome rearrangements. In addition, the existing literature reveals that one can find almost any situation at all, from species groups with high amounts of satellite DNA and no gross chromosomal rearrangements, to ones such as those described here, with tiny amounts of highly repeated DNA and massive chromosomal reorganisation. Since direct experimental data indicates that satellite DNA differences per se between homologous chromosomes do not cause infertility, speculations concerning modes of speciation based on satellite DNA differences between otherwise homologous chromosomes would appear to be ill founded.