Location of nucleolar organizing regions on the chromosomes of the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) and the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus)

Abstract

Terminal chromosome associations (“satellite associations”) in ASG-banded preparations have been used to determine the number and location of satellites in the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) and the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus). Five pairs of satellites are found in the former and four in the latter. Nucleolar organizing regions (NORs) were visualized with the Ag-AS silver precipitation technique, and their number and position corresponded exactly with the number and position of satellites in Phodopus, where positive chromosome identification can be made in the absence of banding. Numerical agreement is exact in Mesocricetus as well, and the morphology of the silver-tagged NOR-bearing chromosomes strongly suggests that correspondence also occurs in this species.