In-Depth Satellitome Analyses of 37 Drosophila Species Illuminate Repetitive DNA Evolution in the Drosophila Genus

Satellite DNAs (SatDNA) are ubiquitously present in eukaryotic genomes and have been recently associated with several biological roles. Understanding the evolution and significance of SatDNA requires an extensive comparison across multiple phylogenetic depths. We combined the RepeatExplorer pipeline and cytogenetic approaches to conduct a comprehensive identification and analysis of the satellitome in 37 species from the genus Drosophila. We identified 188 SatDNA-like families, 112 of them being characterized for the first time. Repeat analysis within a phylogenetic framework has revealed the deeply divergent nature of SatDNA sequences in the Drosophila genus. The SatDNA content varied from 0.54% of the D. arizonae genome to 38.8% of the D. albomicans genome, with the SatDNA content often following a phylogenetic signal. Monomer size and guanine–cytosine-content also showed extreme variation ranging 2–570 bp and 9.1–71.4%, respectively. SatDNA families are shared among closely related species, consistent with the SatDNA library hypothesis. However, we uncovered the emergence of species-specific SatDNA families through amplification of unique or low abundant sequences in a lineage. Finally, we found that genome sizes of the Sophophora subgenus are positively correlated with transposable element content, whereas genome size in the Drosophila subgenus is positively correlated with SatDNA. This finding indicates genome size could be driven by different categories of repetitive elements in each subgenus. Altogether, we conducted the most comprehensive satellitome analysis in Drosophila from a phylogenetic perspective and generated the largest catalog of SatDNA sequences to date, enabling future discoveries in SatDNA evolution and Drosophila genome architecture.