Cytotaxonomy of Gallinula melanops (Gruiformes, Rallidae): Karyotype evolution and phylogenetic inference

We are grateful to the staff of Laborat?rio de Diversidade Gen?tica Animal from Universidade Federal do Pampa (Campus S?o Gabriel), CNPq (309699/2015-0), PROPESP-UFPA and CAPES for technical and financial support. This research was partially funded by a grant to EHCO from CNPq (307382/2019-2) and to MAFS from the Wellcome Trust in support of the Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics and by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/K008161/1) to the University of Kent, also by UIDB/CVT/00772/2020 funded by the Funda??o para Ci?ncia e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Federal Rural da Amaz?nia. Laborat?rio de Reprodu??o Animal. Parauapebas, PA, Brazil / University of Cambridge. Department of Veterinary Medicine. Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Programa de P?s-gradua??o em Gen?tica e Biologia Molecular. Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil / University of Kent. School of Biosciences. Canterbury, United Kingdom. University of Cambridge. Department of Veterinary Medicine. Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics. Cambridge, United Kingdom. University of Cambridge. Department of Veterinary Medicine. Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics. Cambridge, United Kingdom / University of Tr?s-os-Montes and Alto Douro. Animal and Veterinary Research Centre. Vila Real, Portugal. Universidade Federal do Pampa. Programa de P?s-gradua??o em Ci?ncias Biol?gicas. S?o Gabriel, RS, Brazil. Universidade Federal do Pampa. Programa de P?s-gradua??o em Ci?ncias Biol?gicas. S?o Gabriel, RS, Brazil. University of Kent. School of Biosciences. Canterbury, United Kingdom. University of Kent. School of Biosciences. Canterbury, United Kingdom. University of Cambridge. Department of Veterinary Medicine. Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Laborat?rio de Cultura de Tecidos e Citogen?tica. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil / Universidade Federal do Par?. Instituto de Ci?ncias Exatas e Naturais. Bel?m, PA, Brazil. Although Rallidae is the most diverse family within Gruiformes, there is little information concerning the karyotype of the species in this group. In fact, Gallinula melanops, a species of Rallidae found in Brazil, is among the few species studied cytogenetically, but only with conventional staining and repetitive DNA mapping, showing 2n=80. Thus, in order to understand the karyotypic evolution and phylogeny of this group, the present study aimed to analyze the karyotype of G. melanops by classical and molecular cytogenetics, comparing the results with other species of Gruiformes. The results show that G. melanops has the same chromosome rearrangements as described in Gallinula chloropus (Clade Fulica), including fission of ancestral chromosomes 4 and 5 of Gallus gallus (GGA), beyond the fusion between two of segments resultants of the GGA4/GGA5, also fusions between the chromosomes GGA6/GGA7. Thus, despite the fact that some authors have suggested the inclusion of G. melanops in genus Porphyriops, our molecular cytogenetic results confirm its place in the Gallinula genus.