CHROMOSOME PAINTING - A USEFUL ART

Chromosome 'painting' refers to the hybridization of fluorescently lab eled chromosome-specific, composite probe pools to cytological prepara tions. Chromosome painting allows the visualization of individual chro mosomes in metaphase or interphase cells and the identification of bot h numerical and structural chromosomal aberrations in human pathology with high sensitivity and specificity. In addition to human chromosome -specific probe pools, painting probes have become available for an in creasing range of different species, They can be applied to cross-spec ies comparisons as well as to the study of chromosomal rearrangements in animal models of human diseases. The simultaneous hybridization of multiple chromosome painting probes, each tagged with a specific fluor ochrome or fluorochrome combination, has resulted in the differential color display of human land mouse) chromosomes, i.e. color karyotyping . In this review, we will summarize recent developments of multicolor chromosome painting, describe applications in basic chromosome researc h and cytogenetic diagnostics, and discuss limitations and future dire ctions.