Repetitive DNAs fraction analysis of Gryllus assimilis with emphasis on sex chromosomes

Abstract

Sex chromosomes evolved several times in the most diverse groups of the tree of life. Duringthis process occurs basically the acquisition of a sex-linked allele in the proto-Y or proto-W chromosome in the heterogametic sex. After that, the sex chromosome could differentiate by accumulation of repetitive DNAs sequences and other alleles that favor one of the sexes. A common pattern for the sex chromosomes is the accumulation of repetitive DNAs, like multigene families, microsatellites, Transposable Elements (TEs) and satellite DNAs (satDNA).The cricket Gryllus assimilis harbors the ancient sex chromosome system for Orthoptera, i.e. X0 in males and in previous studies developed by us an enrichment of microsatellites motif was observed, contrasting with the low content of C-positive heterochromatin.In this work we will use the pipeline proposed for RepeatExplorer to isolate the repetitive DNA fraction of G. assimilis genome and use these sequences to understand the composition and evolution of the X0 sex system in the species.