The nature of centromeric dots in Nigella chromosomes

Derived telocentric chromosomes in Nigella doerfleri have pairs of Giemsa staining dots at their terminal centromeres which appear in size and behaviour to be identical with the centromeric dots of their submetacentric homologue. The telocentric chromosomes are stable and therefore their centromeres are functional and probably complete. That the centromeres also possess centromeric dots indicates that the dots represent essential components of the centromere, a conclusion which supports the contention that they are kinetochores.