G banding in two species of grasshopper and its relationship to C, N, and fluorescence banding techniques

Abstract

A G banding technique combining trypsin and hot saline treatments was used to analyze the chromosomes of two grasshopper species, Eyprepocnemis plorans and Locusta migratoria, both of which contain both standard and supernumerary heterochromatin. Although this technique does not produce G bands like those in mammalian chromosomes, it serves to characterize heterochromatic regions whose nature has been inferred from other banding techniques (C, N, CMA, and DAPI banding). The light regions revealed by G banding contain GC-rich DNA sequences, the more prominent of which coincide with nucleolus organizer regions (NORs). Furthermore, the proximal heterochromatin in E. plorans was heterogeneous, and the standard and supernumerary heterochromatin showed conspicuous differences in organization. Supernumerary heterochromatin is an exception to the regular patterns shown by the standard heterochromatin. The findings are related to the mechanism of action of these banding techniques.Key words: banding techniques, grasshoppers, Eyprepocnemis plorans, Locusta migratoria.