FISH ANALYSIS OF THE TELOMERE SEQUENCES OF BULLDOG ANTS (MYRMECIA, FORMICIDAE)

Chromosomes from several species of ants from the genus Myrmecia were hybridized with deoxyoligomer probes of either (T(2)AG(2))(7), the put ative insect telomere repeat sequence, or (T(2)AG(3))(7), the vertebra te telomere repeat sequence. While both sequences hybridized over a ra nge of stringency conditions, (T(2)AG(2))(n) was clearly the predomina nt sequence at the termini of the Myrmecia chromosomes. No interstitia l sites of either sequence were detected. The genus Myrmecia has a wid e range of karyotypes, with chromosome numbers ranging from 2n=2-84. I t has been hypothesized that the ancestral karyotype was 2n=4 and kary otype evolution proceeded with an increase in chromosome number. In th e absence of detectable interstitial sites of telomere sequence, it is interesting to speculate on the origin of the new telomeres as the ch romosome numbers increased.