Chromosome Asynapsis Is the Main Cause of Male Sterility in the Interspecies Hybrids of East Asian Voles (, Rodentia, Arvicolinae).

Closely related mammalian species often have differences in chromosome number and morphology, but there is still a debate about how these differences relate to reproductive isolation. To study the role of chromosome rearrangements in speciation, we used the gray voles in the genus as a model. These voles have a high level of chromosome polymorphism and substantial karyotypic divergence.

A new type of tandem repeats in Myotis petax (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) mitochondrial control region.

Background: Tandem repeats in mitochondrial DNA control region are known to different animal taxa, including bat species of the family Vespertilionidae. The long R1-repeats in the bat ETAS-domain are often presented in a variable copy number and may exhibit both inter-individual and intra-individual sequence diversity. The function of repeats in the control region is still unclear, but it has been shown that repetitive sequences in some animal groups (shrews, cats and sheep) may include parts of ETAS1 and ETAS2 conservative blocks of mitochondrial DNA.

Intraspecies multiple chromosomal variations including rare tandem fusion in the Russian Far Eastern endemic evoron vole (Rodentia, Arvicolinae).

The vole (Kovalskaya et Sokolov, 1980) with its two chromosomal races, "Evoron" (2n = 38-41, NF = 54-59) and "Argi" (2n = 34, 36, 37, NF = 51-56) is the endemic vole found in the Russian Far East. For the "Argi" chromosomal race, individuals from two isolated populations in mountain regions were investigated here for the first time using GTG-, GTC-, NOR methods. In the area under study, 8 new karyotype variants have been registered.