Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026
10:16
Point-of-care CRISPR-based Diagnostics with Premixed and Freeze-dried Reagents
Published on: August 16, 2024
Cytogenetics and molecular data in snakes: a phylogenetic approach
N Oguiura1, H Ferrarezzi, R F Batistic
1Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. nancyoguiura@butantan.gov.br
Cytogenetic and Genome Research
|March 11, 2010
Summary
Genomic and cytogenetic analyses reveal insights into snake evolution. Mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequencing, alongside toxin gene and chromosomal data, help clarify relationships within the Serpentes order.
Area of Science:
- Herpetology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Snakes (Serpentes) represent a highly successful reptile group with around 3,000 species.
- Despite extensive anatomical studies, many snake evolutionary and systematic questions remain unresolved.
- Understanding genomic diversity is key to deciphering snake evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolution and genomic diversity within the order Serpentes.
- To utilize mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequence data, cytogenetic information, and toxin gene characteristics.
- To clarify intergeneric and tribal relationships, particularly within neotropical xenodontine snakes.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of online sequence data for mitochondrial and nuclear genes.
- Inclusion of cytogenetic data and review of genomic characteristics, including toxin genes.
- Whole-genome and chromosomal organization analysis.
Main Results:
- Cytogenetic comparisons offer a valuable method for studying relationships among neotropical xenodontine snakes.
- Toxin gene analysis can aid snake evolution studies, provided paralogs are carefully managed.
- Phylogenetic results from mitochondrial genomes align well with those from nuclear genes.
Conclusions:
- Genomic and cytogenetic data provide powerful tools for resolving snake systematics.
- Mitochondrial and nuclear data sets are largely congruent in reconstructing snake phylogeny.
- Further research into toxin gene evolution requires careful sequence selection to ensure accuracy.
Related Concept Videos
02:54Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
01:23Phylogeny
Phylogeny is concerned with the evolutionary diversification of organisms or groups of organisms. A group of organisms with a name is called a taxon (singular). Taxa (plural) can span different levels of the evolutionary hierarchy. For instance, the group containing all birds is a taxon (comprising the class Aves), and the group of all species of daisies (the genus Bellis) is a taxon. Phylogenies can likewise include just one genus (i.e., depict species relationships) or span an entire...
01:28Microbial Phylogeny
Understanding the evolutionary relationships among microorganisms is fundamental to microbial ecology and taxonomy. Phylogenetic trees are essential tools for inferring these relationships, relying primarily on comparative analyses of molecular sequences such as DNA, RNA, or proteins. In microbial studies, these trees typically depict the evolutionary paths of diverse bacterial and archaeal species by mapping genetic differences accumulated over time.Phylogenetic trees are composed of tips,...
02:31Synteny and Evolution
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
03:21Phylogenetic Trees
Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.The length of the branches can depict time or the relative amount of change among organisms. For instance, the branch length might indicate the number of amino acid changes in the sequence that underlies the...
03:21Phylogenetic Trees
Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.The length of the branches can depict time or the relative amount of change among organisms. For instance, the branch length might indicate the number of amino acid changes in the sequence that underlies the...