ABSTRACT
Variations in pericentromeric heterochromatin quantity was found in polytene chromosomes X and 3 (in 3L arm) in the ovarian trophocytes in two natural populations of Anopheles meculipennis Mg. (Moscow, Sochi). The existence of block and non-block variants and of heterozygotes between them was shown. Northern population have more variants of blocks than the southern populations do.
Subject(s)
Anopheles/ultrastructure , Centromere/ultrastructure , Heterochromatin/ultrastructure , Polymorphism, Genetic , AnimalsABSTRACT
Pericentric heterochromatin polymorphism in chromosome 2 of ovarian trophocytes was studied in three natural populations of the malaria mosquito Anopheles messeae Fall. It is shown that pericentric heterochromatin blocks occur in four different variants whose sizes are at the 1:2:3:4 ratio (single, double, triple, and quadruple blocks). Mosquitoes with homo- and heterozygous variants of these blocks were identified. By analyzing frequency distribution of different size variants, interpopulation differences in this parameter were revealed. Mosquitoes with double heterochromatin blocks prevailed in the southern population, whereas those with triple blocks were more abundant in the northern population.