Chromosome Studies in the Banded Palm Civet, Hemigalus derbyanus Thomas, 1915 (Carnivora, Viverridae) by Conventional Staining, GTG-Banding and High-Resolution Techniques

Abstract

Cytogenetics of banded palm civet (Hemigalus derbyanus) in Thailand was studied. Blood samples were taken from 2 males and 2 females then subjected to standard whole blood T-lymphocyte culture. The samples were harvested by colchicine-hypotonic-fixation-air-drying technique and followed by conventional staining, GTG-banding and high-resolution techniques with Giemsa's. The results showed diploid number as 2n=42, and fundamental number (NF) as 81 in both male and 82 in female. The autosomes consist of 10 large submetacentric, 12 large acrocentric, 4 medium submetacentric, 4 small metacentric, 8 small submetacentric and 2 small telocentric chromosomes. We found that nucleolar organizer regions (the representative of chromosome marker) locate on the long arms of a pair metacentric autosome 15. The X chromosome was a large acrocentric chromosome while the Y chromosome was the smallest telocentric chromosome. From GTG-banding and high-resolution techniques, the numbers of bands and locations in banded palm civet were 218 and 244, respectively. Each homologous chromosome pair appears clearly differentiated.