A New Subfamily of the Satellite DNA, CLsatIV, of the Lizard <Emphasis Type="Italic">Darevskia lindholmi</Emphasis> (Sauria, Laceridae): Structure and Evolution

A new subfamily (CLsatIV) of the tandem repeats CLsat, specific of the genus Darevskia , was discovered and sequenced only in the genomic DNA of the lizard Darevskia lindholmi (this endemic Crimean species until recently was regarded as the subspecies Lacerta saxicola lindholmi [1]). The CLsat repeated sequences were found in Caucasian representatives of the genus. They are characterized by a high level of variability and a sufficient rate of homogenization, which resulted in the formation of subfamilies [2–4]. The orthologs of the three subfamilies of CLsat of the Caucasian lizards were also found in the D. lindholmi DNA using the method of hybridization, and two of them (CLsatI and CLsatIII) were sequenced. The sequences and organization of CLsatIV, CLsatI, and CLsatIII of the Crimean species, as well as the two last sequences and similar satellites of the Caucasian species were subjected to comparative analysis. The CLsatIV subfamily is characterized by a 30 bp decrease in length and a higher degree of divergence from the general consensus of the family. It was concluded that the data on the presence of the specific CLsatIV repeats, together with some other molecular genetic data [5, 6], allows regarding the Crimean lizards as a separate species of D. lindholmi , differing from all studied populations of the species D. saxicola , with which it has been classified until recently.