title: Assignment of genes to Leishmania infantum chromosomes: karyotype and ploidy.
abstract: The use of various pulsed-field electrophoresis methodologies under different conditions allowed us to determine the Leishmania infantum karyotype. A total of 25 chromosomal bands ranging in size from 375 to 3300 kb were resolved amounting to a minimum genomic DNA mass of about 2.6 x 10(7) pb. By molecular hybridization and on the basis of the karyotype, specific gene sequences could be assigned to particular chromosomes. A bias in the chromosomal distribution of different markers was found since 9 out of the 12 analysed gene markers hybridize with chromosomal bands XIXa and XIXb. We infer that chromosomal bands XIXa and XIXb, differing in about 30 kb, could be representing a pair of homologous chromosomes and that another pair of homologs may be also defined by chromosomal bands XVII and XVIII.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Requena
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alonso
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D007621:Karyotyping; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000235:genetics*; D011003:Ploidies