title: Cytogenetic study of Anopheles albitarsis (Diptera: Culicidae) by C-banding and in situ hybridization.
abstract: The C-banding pattern and the size and location of the nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) are described for the first time in Brazilian populations of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albitarsis sensu lato. C-banding revealed variation in the size of the centromeric heterochromatic blocks in autosomal chromosomes and in the acrocentric (X) and puntiform (Y) sex chromosomes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that the NORs were located in the pericentromeric region of the sex (XX/XY) chromosomes and that this coincided with the number and location of centromeric constitutive heterochromatin blocks previously revealed by C-banding. The NORs varied in size among the homologues of the three populations. These findings of the populations studied support the hypothesis that the stability of NORs in the A. albitarsis complex is characterized by the presence of clustered and conserved sites in a unique pair of chromosomes.
authors.affiliation: Coordenação de Pesquisas em Ciências da Saúde, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil. msrafael@inpa.gov.br
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rafael
authors.forename: I P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Tadei
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Recco-Pimente
authors.forename: M A M
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sallum
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Forattini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001938:Brazil; D002871:Chromosome Banding; D002875:Chromosomes; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007621:Karyotyping; D008677:Metaphase; D014960:X Chromosome; D014998:Y Chromosome