Reconstruction of the female Gorilla gorilla karyotype using 25-color FISHand multicolor banding (MCB)

The origin of the human and great ape chromosomes has been studied by compa rative chromosome banding analysis and, more recently, by fluorescence in s itu hybridization (FISH), using human whole-chromosome painting probes. It is not always possible, however, to determine the exact breakpoints and dis tribution or orientation of specific DNA regions using these techniques. To overcome this problem, the recently developed multicolor banding (MCB) pro be set for all human chromosomes was applied in the present study to reanal yze the chromosomes of Gorilla gorilla (GGO). While the results agree with those of most previous banding and FISH studies, the breakpoints for the pe ricentric inversion on GGO 3 were defined more precisely. Moreover, no para centric inversion was found on GGO 14, and no pericentric inversions could be demonstrated on GGO 16 or 17. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.