Veterinary cytogenetics: past and perspective.
Cytogenetics was conceived in the late 1800s and nurtured through the early 1900s by discoveries pointing to the chromosomal basis of inheritance. The relevance of chromosomes to human health and disease was realized more than half a century later when improvements in techniques facilitated unequivocal chromosome delineation. Veterinary cytogenetics has benefited from the information generated in human cytogenetics which, in turn, owes its theoretical and technical advancement to data gathered from plants, insects and laboratory mammals. The scope of this science has moved from the structure and number of chromosomes to molecular cytogenetics for use in research or for diagnostic and prognostic purposes including comparative genomic hybridization arrays, single nucleotide polymorphism array-based karyotyping and automated systems for counting the results of standard FISH preparations. Even though the counterparts to a variety of human diseases and disorders are seen in domestic animals, clinical applications of veterinary cytogenetics will be less well exploited mainly because of the cost-driven nature of demand on diagnosis and treatment which often out-weigh emotional and sentimental attachments. An area where the potential of veterinary cytogenetics will be fully exploited is reproduction since an inherited aberration that impacts on reproductive efficiency can compromise the success achieved over the years in animal breeding. It is gratifying to note that such aberrations can now be tracked and tackled using sophisticated cytogenetic tools already commercially available for RNA expression analysis, chromatin immunoprecipitation, or comparative genomic hybridization using custom-made microarray platforms that allow the construction of microarrays that match veterinary cytogenetic needs, be it for research or for clinical applications. Judging from the technical refinements already accomplished in veterinary cytogenetics since the 1960s, it is clear that the importance of the achievements to date are bound to be matched or out-weighed by what awaits to be accomplished in the not-too-far future.
Basrur
P K
PK
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada. pbasrur@uoguelph.ca
Stranzinger
G
G
D000818:Animals; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D002871:Chromosome Banding / Q000266:history; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000266:history / Q000662:veterinary; D020732:Cytogenetic Analysis / Q000266:history / Q000662:veterinary*; D003582:Cytogenetics / Q000266:history; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000235:genetics; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence / Q000266:history / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics; D013573:Synaptonemal Complex / Q000235:genetics; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000266:history
D006570:Heterochromatin