Abstract
Using conventional staining with acetic orcein and C-banding techniques it was investigated constitutive heterochromatin chromosomal polymorphisms and the mitotic and the meiotic behavior of male and female chromosomes of Boophilus microplus (Canestrini, 1887). Some differences were detected in the population of southern Brazil as compared to the data of other authors for populations in other latitudes. The differences being mainly concerned with the distribution of constitutive centromeric heterochromatin and variation in the length of heterochromatic blocks in the pericentromeric regions of some chromosome pairs.
Highlights
The only Boophilus species occurring in Brazil is Boophilus microplus (Canestrini, 1887), an Asian tick species which has been introduced into the majority of tropical and subtropical countries by the importation of Asian cattle
Chromosome pairs were more recognized using C-banding and this allowed the construction of a schematic interpretation of the heterochromatin in the karyotype of B. microplus
It was difficult to compare pictures of Boophilus microplus prophase I taken in the present study with those of different tick species and of those of B. microplus populations reported by other authors
Summary
The only Boophilus species occurring in Brazil is Boophilus microplus (Canestrini, 1887), an Asian tick species which has been introduced into the majority of tropical and subtropical countries by the importation of Asian cattle. OLIVER & BREMNER (1968) described the chromosome number of male and female B. microplus, establishing the sexual determination mechanism (XX:X0) and the acrocentric nature of the chromosomes. Ixodes ricinus Linné, 1758, have a XX:XY type sexual determination mechanism in which the Y chromosome is very small, the mitotic metaphase X chromosome is invisible and a pair of chromosomes shows a. De Ciências Morfológicas, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, UFRGS, Rua Sarmento Leite 500, 90050-170, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. De Genética, Instituto de Biociências, UFRGS, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Bloco 3, Prédio 43323, Caixa Postal 15053, 91501-970, Iheringia, Sér. Zool., Porto Alegre, 92(1): de março de 2002
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