Genome size and constitutive heterochromatin in Hylobates muelleri and Symphalangus syndactylus and in their viable hybrid |
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Authors: | C Pellicciari D Formenti M Zuccotti R Stanyon M G Manfredi Romanini |
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Institution: | Dipartimento di Biologia Animale dell'Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy. |
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Abstract: | Genome size was measured as the amount of Feulgen-stained DNA in six species of the family Hylobatidae and in a hybrid of the gibbon (Hylobates muelleri) and siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus). The family, on the whole, exhibits a wider range of genome sizes than pongids; in particular, the siamang has about 15% more DNA than the 44-chromosome Hylobates species of the "lar" group. Quantitative analysis of C-heterochromatin in hybrid metaphases showed that the difference in genome size of the parental species correlates with the amount of C-band-positive material. Hylobatids are the only group of primates in which karyotype diversification has taken place with a massive quantitative change in constitutive heterochromatin. |
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