COMPARATIVE GENE ASSIGNMENT IN ATELES PANISCUS CHAMEK (PLATYRRHINI, PRIMATES) AND MAN - ASSOCIATION OF 3 SEPARATE HUMAN SYNTENIC GROUPS ANDEVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS

Regional assignment of eight markers to chromosome 2 of Ateles paniscu s chamek (APC) confirmed a syntenic association similar to human (HSA) 12q + 14q + 15q. Three HSA 12q markers (RAP1B, PAH and ALDH2) were al located to a shortest region of overlap (SRO) in APC 2p and found to b e syntenic to other HSA 12q markers (PEPB and TCF1). Five HSA 14q mark ers (CTLA, PAX9, NSP, FOS and CHGA) were allocated to APC 2q and found to be syntenic to other HSA 14q markers (NP, TGM1, and CALM1) and to four HSA 15q markers (THBS1, B2M, HEXA and MPI) but dissociated from m arkers close to HSA 14qter (CKB) and HSA 15qter (FES-IDH2). Karyotypic comparisons showed an evident homoeology between APC 2p and HSA 12q w hile APC 2q was similar to an HSA 14qter::HSA 15qter fusion product. C omparative gene mapping data show that the HSA 14q + HSA 15q syntenic association is an ancestral mammalian gene cluster that has been maint ained in several primate taxa. Conversely, in Ateles, it has been furt her associated with HSA 12q while, in Hominoids and Cebus, it has been independently dissociated into two separate syntenic groups, similar to HSA 14q and HSA 15q.