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Methyl green staining and highly repetitive DNA in polytene chromosomes

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Abstract

Fixed polytene chromosomes of Rhynchosciara angelae were stained with methyl green-pyronin after different pretreatments. Methyl green affinity for chromatin in the polytene chromosomes is lost after acid, alkali and heatformaldehyde treatments as a consequence of DNA denaturation, but reappears if conditions for DNA strand reassociation are provided. When such conditions are absent, only some chromosomal regions recover their affinity for methyl green. The resulting differential staining pattern is described and its possible relation to highly repetitive DNA sequences is discussed.

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  1. Laboratorio de Genética, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    M. Díaz

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  1. M. Díaz
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Díaz, M. Methyl green staining and highly repetitive DNA in polytene chromosomes. Chromosoma 37, 131–138 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284935

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284935

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