Synapsis in grasshopper bivalents heterozygous for centric shifts

Analysis of surface-spread synaptonemal complexes of zygotene and pachytene spermatocytes was carried out on centric-shift heterozygotes of grasshoppers. These rearrangements affected the M7 chromosome in Chorthippus vagans and the M6 and S8 chromosomes in Chorthippus apricarius. The shifts in the latter two chromosomes were also associated with C-heterochromatin variations between homologous chromosomes. Rearranged chromosomes proceeded directly to heterosynapsis without an apparent intervening homosynaptic phase in M7 bivalents of Ch. vagans and M6 bivalents of Ch. apricarius. In the latter case, axial equalization of the heterochromatin polymorphism was also achieved. On the other hand, asynapsis of the intercentromeric regions throughout pachytene was the rule in the centric shift involving the S8 chromosome of Ch. apricarius. In the three cases analysed, the production of unbalanced gametes in the heterozygotes is precluded either by the lack of chiasma formation in heterosynapsed rearranged segments or by the lack of pairing between such segments. Chiasmata were limited to the homologous regions of the heteromorphic bivalents.Key words: synapsis, surface spreading, centric shift, chiasma distribution, meiosis.