title: Patterns of C-heterochromatin and telomeric DNA in two representative groups of small apes, the genera Hylobates and Symphalangus.
abstract: The course of chromosome evolution in small apes is still not clear, though painting analyses have opened the way for elucidating the puzzle. Even the C-banding pattern of the lar-group of gibbons (the genus Hylobates) is not clarified yet, although our previous studies suggested that lar-group gibbons have a unique C-banding pattern. We therefore made observations to establish C-banded karyotypes of the agile gibbons included in the lar-group. The data were compared with those of siamangs (the genus Symphalangus), which carry distinctive C-bands, to determine the chromosomal patterns in each group. C-banded chromosomes of agile gibbons showed several terminal, interstitial and paracentric bands, whose patterns are specific for each chromosome, whereas the C-bands of siamangs were located only at the terminal and centromeric regions in most chromosomes. Moreover, the C-bands of agile gibbons and siamangs were shown to be G+C-rich and A+T-rich DNA, respectively, by DAPI/C-band sequential staining. Additionally, PRINS labelling with a telomere primer revealed that agile gibbons have telomeric DNA only at chromosome ends where there is no C-band (non-telomeric heterochromatin), whereas the telomeric DNA of siamangs is located in the terminal C-banded regions (telomeric heterochromatin). Although the evolutionary mechanisms in small apes are still unknown, C-banding patterns and distribution of telomeric DNA sequences should provide valuable data to deduce the evolutionary pathways of small apes.
authors.affiliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.
authors.forename: Hery
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wijayanto
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Yosirou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamanaka
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katho
authors.forename: Dondin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sajuthi
authors.forename: Hirohisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirai
mesh_terms: D020856:AT Rich Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002503:Centromere; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D002875:Chromosomes; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D020862:GC Rich Sequence; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000235:genetics*; D015186:Hominidae / Q000235:genetics*; D006922:Hylobates / Q000235:genetics*; D007621:Karyotyping; D010802:Phylogeny; D020401:Primed In Situ Labeling; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D006570:Heterochromatin; D004247:DNA