A Study on Karyotype of the Asian Leopard Cat, <i>Prionailurus bengalensis</i> (Carnivora, Felidae) by Conventional Staining, G-banding and High-resolution Technique

Abstract

A karyotypic study of the Asian leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in Thailand has been made. Blood samples were taken from 2 males and 2 females. After the standard whole blood lymphocyte culture in the presence of colchicine, the metaphase spreads were performed on microscopic slides and air-dried. Conventional staining, G-banding and high-resolution techniques were applied to stain the chromosomes. The results showed that 2n of the Asian leopard cat was 38, and the fundamental number (NF) was 74 in male and female. There are 6 autosome types: A type has 4 large and 2 medium submetacentric chromosomes, B type has 6 large and 2 medium acrocentric chromosomes, C type has 4 large metacentric chromosomes, D type has 8 small submetacentric chromosomes, E type has 8 small metacentric chromosomes and F type are 2 small telocentric chromosomes. A pair of the short arm of chromosome E1 (chromosome pairs 14) showed a clearly observable satellite chromosomes. The X chromosome was medium submetacentric chromosome and the Y chromosome was the smallest metacentric chromosome. From the G-banding and high-resolution techniques, the number of bands and locations in the Asian leopard cat was 183 and 236 respectively, and each chromosome pair could be clearly differentiated. We found that chromosomes A1, A2, A3, B3, B4, C1, C2, D3, D4, E1, E3, F1 and X chromosome patterns were according to the domestic cat (Felis catus) chromosomes. Chromosomes B1, B2, D2 and E2 are similar to those of the domestic cat. These results show the evolutionary relationship between the Asian leopard cat and the domestic cat. The karyotype formula for the male and female Asian leopard cat is as follows:2n (38)=L4m+L4sm+L6a+M2sm+M2a+S8m+S8sm+St2+Sex-chromosome