Abstract
Chromosomes of Didelphis albiventris, D. marsupialis, Philander opossum and Lutreolina crassicaudata, four species of marsupials with very similar karyotypes and 2n=22 were studied. All the chromosomes were acrocentrics except the X in L. crassicaudata, which is a metacentric.
The G-band patterns of these species are similar but the distribution of constitutive heterochromatin differs among them as shown by C-banding. The hypothesis that the X in L. crassicaudata might be an isochromosome derived from the acrocentric X in the other species is discarded since G-and C-banding patterns differ in the two arms.
In D. marsupialis the Ag-NORs are terminal and located in both arms of one pair and in the long arms of two pairs of medium-sized autosomes. In P. opossum the NOR-bearing chromosomes could be precisely identified through simultaneous silver staining and G-banding. The Ag-NORs are terminal and located at the short arm of pair 5 and the long arm of pair 7.
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Yononaga-Yassuda, Y., Kasahara, S., Souza, M.J. et al. Constitutive heterochromatin, G-bands and nucleolus-organizer regions in four species of Didelphidae (Marsupialia). Genetica 58, 71–77 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00056006
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00056006