Restriction Endonuclease Staining Profiles in the C-heterochromatin of Cervidae

Abstract

The amount of C‐heterochromatin in the autosomes of Rangifer tarandus, Odocoileus virginianus, Alces alces, and Cervus dama was estimated as small, medium, or large. The richness of certain specific base sequences in the DNA of the highly repetitive heterochromatin was studied by selective staining methods and by in situ treatment of chromosome spreads with restriction endonucleases. Resistant and susceptible regions, distributed in specific domains of the heterochromatin, expressed similar staining profiles in all three species belonging to the same evolutionary lineage, while the species belonging to another evolutionary lineage showed a clearly different organization. Correlations are demonstrated between the patterns of the specific base sequences here studied and structural chromosome changes characterizing the evolutionary lineages in Cervidae.