Fluorescent banding patterns of the chromosomes of the genus Salmo

Abstract

The fluorescent banding patterns of the chromosomes of Salmo gairdneri (rainbow trout), Salmo trutta (brown trout), and Salmo salar (Atlantic salmon) from North America and Great Britain are described. Quinacrine stained a subset of C bands in S. gairdneri and S. salar from North America. No bright quinacrine (Q) bands were found on the chromosomes of S. salar from Great Britain or the chromosomes from any of the three stocks of S. trutta that were examined. Q bands were found at the centromeres of three to seven different chromosome pairs in S. gairdneri, including the pair that has been identified as the sex chromosome pair in some populations. In S. salar from North America the Q bands were found at the teleomeres of three to four chromosome pairs and at interstitial locations in the 10–13 large acrocentric chromosome pairs. Chromomycin A3 stained either the nucleolar organizer region or the adjacent heterochromatin or both in all three species. In S. trutta the entire short arm of the acrocentric chromosome containing the nucleolar organizer region always stained with chromomycin A3 while in S. gairdneri and S. salar the staining properties of the NOR and adjacent heterochromatin were polymorphic.Key words: banding, C-, Q-; Salmo; trout.