RESEARCH ARTICLE The evolution of haploid chromosome numbers in Meliponini 1 2 3 NataÂlia Martins Travenzoli , Danon Clemes CardosoID *, Hugo de Azevedo Werneck , TaÃnia Maria Fernandes-Salomão2, Mara Garcia Tavares3, Denilce Meneses Lopes1* 1 LaboratoÂrio de CitogeneÂtica de Insetos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de VicËosa, CEP, VicËosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2 LaboratoÂrio de GeneÂtica Evolutiva e de PopulacËões, Departamento de Biodiversidade, EvolucËão e Meio Ambiente, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, CEP, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 3 LaboratoÂrio de Biologia Molecular de Insetos, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de VicËosa, CEP, VicËosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil a1111111111 a1111111111 *
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[email protected] (DCC) a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract It is thought that two evolutionary mechanisms gave rise to chromosomal variation in bees: the first one points to polyploidy as the main cause of chromosomal evolution, while the sec- OPEN ACCESS ond, Minimum Interaction Theory (MIT), is more frequently used to explain chromosomal changes in Meliponini and suggests that centric fission is responsible for variations in karyo- Citation: Travenzoli NM, Cardoso DC, Werneck HdA, Fernandes-Salomão TM, Tavares MG, Lopes type. However, differences in chromosome number between Meliponini and its sister taxa DM (2019) The evolution of haploid chromosome and in the karyotype patterns of the Melipona genus cannot be explained by MIT, suggest- numbers in Meliponini. PLoS ONE 14(10): ing that other events were involved in chromosomal evolution. Thus, we assembled cytoge- e0224463. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. netical and molecular information to reconstruct an ancestral chromosome number for pone.0224463 Meliponini and its sister group, Bombini, and propose a hypothesis to explain the evolution- Editor: Pilar De la RuÂa, Facultad de Veterinaria, ary pathways underpinning chromosomal changes in Meliponini.