New Technique for Distinguishing between Human Chromosomes (original) (raw)

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• Published: 07 July 1971

Nature New Biology volume 232, pages 31–32 (1971)Cite this article

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Abstract

A GIEMSA staining procedure that preferentially stains centromeric heterochromatin in mouse chromosomes has been described1. This specificity was observed when fixed preparations were treated with sodium hydroxide to denature the DNA, and then incubated in warm saline to allow annealing, in the presence of 3H-labelled single stranded satellite DNA or its complementary RNA. In this way mouse satellite DNA was located in the centromeric heterochromatin1,2. It is known to consist of highly repetitive sequences3 and to anneal much more rapidly than non-repetitive DNA4. It seems probable, therefore, that the darker staining with Giemsa of these regions, after denaturation and annealing, indicates the presence of highly repetitive DNA.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. MRC Clinical and Population Cytogenetics Unit, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh, EHA 2XU
   A. T. SUMNER, H. J. EVANS & R. A. BUCKLAND

Authors

1. A. T. SUMNER
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2. H. J. EVANS
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3. R. A. BUCKLAND
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SUMNER, A., EVANS, H. & BUCKLAND, R. New Technique for Distinguishing between Human Chromosomes.Nature New Biology 232, 31–32 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio232031a0

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• Received: 06 May 1971
• Issue Date: 07 July 1971
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio232031a0

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