Organization of a Solatium brevidens repetitive sequence related to the TGRI subtelomeric repeats of Lycopersicon esculentum

A species-specific repetitive DNA fragment has been isolated from a genomic library of Solanum brevidens. Sequence analysis revealed a regular organization of three non-homologous subrepeats forming tandemly-arranged composite repetitive units. Interpretation of Southern hybridization patterns based on the known sequence data suggests that the isolated sequence element represents an abundant organization type, although the presence of simple tandem arrays of the subrepeats is also indicated. Seventy-four percent sequence similarity was found between one of the S. brevidens subrepeats (Sb4AX) and a satellite DNA (TGRI) localized as a subtelomeric repeat on almost all Lycopersicon esculentum chromosomes. Insitu hybridization indicated that, similarly to TGRI, the S. brevidens-specific repeats are located at the ends of the arms of several chromosomes. On the basis of the data obtained, a common ancestral sequence can be proposed for the tomato (TGRI) and the S. brevidens (Sb4AX) repeat however, the molecular organization of this element in these two species evolved in a basically different manner.