Summary Ribosomal RNA (5S and 45S) genes were determined simultaneously by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in the crucifer Orychophragmus violaceus. It carried twenty-two 5S and eight 45S gene sites. All rDNA sites were at the terminal parts of chromosomes and all eight 45S rDNA sites were colocalized together with 5S rDNA sites with the latter ones being more proximal. Double 5S rDNA sites-two sites of different fluorescent intensities on one chromosome arm separated by a short distance-were found on terminal parts of four chromosomes, with the distal one being stronger than the proximal one. No chromosomes with double 5S rDNA sites carried 45S rDNA sites. The implications of the relative order and distribution of both rDNA sites for the genome structure of the species and the identification of its individual chromosomes in wide hybrids with other species were discussed.
Key wordsFluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Orychophragmus violaceus, 5 S rDNA genes, 45S rDNA genes, Genome structure Nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) are recognized as secondary constrictions in satellited (SAT) chromosomes. The 18S-5.8S-25S ribosomal RNA genes (45S rDNA) and intergenic spacer regions (18S-25S rDNA) exist as tandem repeats at the NORs and at other chromosomal sites where they may not be associated with an NOR. The 18S-5.8S-25S rRNA genes are present in several hundreds of tandemly repeated units of the three genes with intergenic spacers, organized in one or more clusters within the genome. Recent in situ hybridization experiments using the 18S-25S rDNA as probe have revealed the presence of minor 18S-25S rDNA sites in addition to the major 18S-25S rDNA sites with NOR-forming activity in various cereals (Mukai et al. 1991, Leitch and Heslop-Harrison 1992, Jiang and Gill 1994, Pedersen and Linde-Laursen 1994, Taketa et al. 1999 which are of importance in phylogenetic studies. The origin of minor 18S-25S rDNA sites is not well understood; silver-staining or an analysis of the meiotic association of nucleoli cannot detect their expression. The genes that code for 5S rRNA (5S rDNA) make up an independent multilocus, multigene family and are organized into clusters of tandem repeats with up to thousands of copies of repeated units (Appels and Honeycut 1986). Every repeat unit consists of a transcribed region of approximately 120 bp and a non-transcribed spacer region varying in size and sequence. The coding sequences are highly conserved across a broad taxonomic range. This variation within the non-transcribed spacer region was found to be useful for the phylogenetic reconstruction of species and even for cultivar identification (Benabdelmouna et al. 2001, Baum and Bailey 1997, Baum and Johnson 1994, Kitamura et al. 2001. In most higher eukaryotes, the 5S rRNA genes are