Shared Y chromosome repetitive DNA sequences in stallion and donkey as visualized using whole-genomic comparative hybridization

Abstract

The genome of stallion (Spanish breed) and donkey (Spanish endemic Zamorano-Leonés) were compared using whole comparative genomic in situ hybridisation (W-CGH) tech-nique, with special reference to the variability observed in the Y chromosome. Results show that these diverging genomes still share some highly repetitive DNA families localized in pericentromeric regions and, in the particular case of the Y chromosome, a sub-family of highly repeated DNA sequences, greatly expanded in the donkey genome, accounts for a large part of the chromatin in the stallion Y chromosome.