CONSERVATION OF NUCLEOLUS ORGANIZER REGIONS DURING EVOLUTION IN SHEEP, GOAT, CATTLE AND AOUDAD

Abstract

There are ten nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) in domestic sheep (Ovis aries L.), cattle (Bos taurus L.), goat (Capra hircus L.) and aoudad (Ammotragus lervia Blyth) and these are located terminally on chromosomes with homologous G-banding patterns. The similarity in number of nucleolus organizer regions in these species may indicate that their ribosomal DNA regions are infrequently involved in exchange events which could lead to different numbers of active nucleolus organizer regions. Other possible explanations of the conservation of number of nucleolus organizer regions in these species are discussed. The homology of NOR location in these species supports the idea that the Bovidae karyotype tends to be fairly stable apart from changes due to centric fusion events.