Translated material
Novosibirsk geneticists measured the rate of gene “shuffling” in different species of mammals - from mice to foxes and cats
Young scientists from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the SB RAS have established what factors determine the rate of “shuffling” of genes in the genomes of mammals and expect to shed light on the mechanism of formation of new species.
Presenting the work “Comparative analysis of the recombination characteristics of mammalian genomes” by Anna Torgasheva, Ekaterina Basheva and Nadezhda Belonogova, which received a medal from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pavel Borodin, head of the laboratory of recombination and segregation analysis of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, noted that they were able to identify the chromosomal mechanisms responsible for the variability of different species, as well as additional factors , influencing this process.
“There is a mechanism in the genome, and it is not mutations, that constantly generates variability,” noted P. Borodin.
At the same time, the scientist clarified, the longer a generation change takes in a particular species, the greater the potential for variability it has.
“Man turns out to be the champion of recombination among all mammals,” he noted.
Variability, thus, the scientist noted, provides a potential opportunity to adapt to the conditions in which future generations will exist.
“It is absolutely impossible to predict this - we don’t know what will be good and what will be bad,” said P. Borodin.
At the same time, he noted, recombination allows a species to “cleanse” its genome of harmful mutations, clarifying that species that reproduce asexually. “Good mutations are picked up, they are especially picked up, but the bad ones, collected together, die, and the genome is cleaned up,” the scientist said.
A. Torgasheva noted that further research will be related, in particular, to the study of the recombination capabilities of hybrids.
"This question actually touches on the topic of speciation - when species 'diverge', they undergo both chromosomal and molecular changes, and this is a very complex question - what exactly determines the initial stages of this divergence is a matter of great debate and great research," she said.
E. Basheva said that for the first time, a method of identifying proteins that “hold together” chromosomes using antibodies labeled with fluorescent dyes was used for such an analysis.
“This way, we could visualize the recombination process and see where these points are located, in which parts of the chromosome and further analyze it,” she said.
During the research, estimates were obtained of the recombination capabilities of 21 species of mammals, including 4 species of carnivores (cats, dogs, minks, foxes), 15 representatives of the order of rodents and two insectivorous species.
Recombination is the exchange of sections of parental chromosomes during the formation of germ cells. Along with the independent divergence of chromosomes during the formation of germ cells, recombination determines the differences between organisms and plays a decisive role in the struggle for existence.