Karyological Study of the Jungle Cat, Felis chaus (Carnivora, Felidae) by Conventional Staining, G-banding and High-resolution Staining Technique

Abstract

As an endangered species in Thailand, wild animal species of the jungle cat (Felis chaus) was selected for karyological study. 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 staining technique were applied to stain the chromosomes. The results showed that 2n (diploid) of jungle cat was 38, and the fundamental number (NF) was 72 in the male and female. There are 6 autosome types: A type had 6 large submetacentric chromosomes, B type had 8 large acrocentric chromosomes, C type had 4 large metacentric chromosomes, D type had 8 small submetacentric chromosomes, E type had 6 small metacentric chromosomes and F type had 4 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 submetacentric chromosome. From the G-banding and high-resolution staining technique, the number of bands and locations in the jungle cat was 167 and 183 respectively, and each chromosome pair could be clearly differentiated. We found that chromosomes B1, B2, D1, D4, E3, F2 and X chromosome patterns were according to the domestic cat (Felis catus) chromosomes. Chromosomes A1, A2, A3, B3, B4, C1, C2, D2, E1, E2, F1 and Y-chromosome are similar to those of the domestic cat. These results show the evolutionary relationship between the jungle cat and domestic cat. The karyotype formula for the male and female jungle cat is as follows: 2n(38) = L4m + L6sm + L8a + S6m + S8sm + S4t + sex chromosomes.