Heteromorphic sex chromosomes in the Australian frog Crinia bilingua (Anura: Myobatrachidae)

The karyotype of Crinia bilingua was examined and analysed with standard staining, C-banding, and silver-staining. Heteromorphic sex chromosomes of the ZW ♂/ZZ ♀ type were observed. The larger W chromosome is submetacentric and the smaller Z chromosome is acrocentric. The centromere and proximal region of the short arm of the W chromosome consist of constitutive heterochromatin (C-band region), and beyond this is a small euchromatic terminal region. The centromere of the Z chromosome did not C-band. The long arms of the Z and W chromosomes are euchromatic and equal in length. The nucleolar organiser region occurs terminally on the long arm of both the Z and W chromosomes, and there is no cytological evidence for inactivity of the nucleolar organiser region on the W chromosome. These features indicate an early stage in the evolution of heteromorphic sex chromosomes.Key words: heteromorphic sex chromosomes, frog, Crinia bilingua.

New Secale cereale (rye) DNA derivatives for the detection of rye chromosome segments in wheat

Subcloning of a clone of the 120-bp family of rye, pSc119, has produced two extremely useful probes. pSc119.1 assays rye-specific dispersed repetitive sequence families. It is present on all seven rye chromosomes and hybridizes to the entire length of each chromosome, with the exception of some telomeres and the nucleolar organiser region. pSc119.2, in contrast, hybridizes predominantly to the telomeric regions of rye chromosomes, with some interstitial sites. Unlike pSc119.1, it assays similar repetitive sequence families in both wheat and rye chromosomes.Key words: Secale cereale, rye DNA probes, rye chromosome detection.