Molecular cytogenetic study of genome ploidy in the German mirror carp Cyprinus carpio

Abstract

We examined the polyploidy of Cyprinus carpio, the German mirror carp. Specimens were collected in the field in Hulan, China, and treated with phytohemagglutinin and colchicine before the chromosome spreads and the karyotype of kidney cells were examined using silver staining, chromomycin A3 (CMA3)/distamycin (DA)/4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a 5.8S + 28S rDNA probe. One to twosilver stained (Ag) nucleolus organizing regions (NORs) were detected during metaphase and interphase events, with 80 % of the metaphase spreads and 69 % of the interphase nuclei showing two Ag-NORs signals. One CMA3 signal was detected on the terminus of the short arm of each submetacentric chromosome 8 (SMC8) homolog (n = 2). The 5.8S + 28S rDNA probe hybridized at the terminus of the short arm of each SMC8 homolog (n = 2). The results of the Ag-NORs, CMA3/DA/DAPI, and 5.8S + 28S rDNA FISH analyses were consistent with regard to the total number and location of the SMC8 NORs in the chromosome spreads and karyotype, indicating that, at the molecular cytogenetic level, the German mirror carp is an evolutionary tetraploid with two sets of chromosomes after diploidization.