Cytogenetic evidences of genome rearrangement and differential epigenetic chromatin modification in the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

This work explores both the chromatin loss and the differential genome methylation in the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) from a molecular cytogenetic point of view. Fluorescent in situ hybridization experiments on meiotic bivalents and mitotic chromosomes corroborate the chromatin loss previously observed during the development of the sea lamprey and demonstrate that the elimination affects not only to Germ1 sequences but also to the rpt200 satellite DNA and most part of the major ribosomal DNA present on the germinal line. 5-Methylcytosine immunolocation revealed that the GC-rich heterochromatin is highly methylated in the germ line but significantly less in somatic chromosomes. These findings not only support previous observations about genome rearrangements but also give new information about epigenetic changes in P. marinus. The key position of lampreys in the vertebrate phylogenetic tree makes them an interesting taxon to provide relevant information about genome evolution in vertebrates.