Techniques In Animal Cytogenetics

A better "casting" could not be conceived. The authors of this book are gold smiths on the subject. I have followed their work since their "entry" into cyto genetics and I have a high esteem for them. I consider it an honour to be asked to write the preface of their opus. Paul Popescu, Directeur de Recherche at INRA, has also played a promi nent part in the development of animal cytogenetics, especially in domestic animals. He is able to tell you the cost of a translocation in a pig breeding farm or a cow population: a fortune! P. Popescu has played a great part in gene mapping of these species using "in situ DNA hybridisation". His contributions are recognised world-wide. His laboratory receives many visitors every year and it serves as a reference for domestic animal cytogenetics. Helene Hayes, Charge de Recherche at INRA, has collaborated with P. POPESCU in the elaboration of the "at hand" techniques and in many other discoveries which are listed in her bibliography. She showed the fascinating correspondence between bovine and human chromosomes and the com pared gene maps of domestic bovidae.

This book presents animal cytology as a science of seeing and interpreting chromosome form and behaviour, and of appreciating its evolutionary significance. Its principal objective is to help students develop a basic understanding and confidence on all matters relating to animal chromosomes.

Infertility and sterility; Embryonic and fetal mortality; Congenital abnormalities; Intersexuality; Other congenital abnormalities; Prenatalcytogenetic studies; Techniques.

Introduction: cytogenetics of animals; The present status of animal cytogenetics and its role in the animal sciences; Chromosome preparation and high resolution R- and G- banding techniques; The handling and analysis of meiotic cells in domestic and laboratory animals; Chromosome stidies on the spermatozoa of domestic animals; Spliting and sexing of bovine embryos, production of chimeras and identical twin; In situ hybridization, a technique for gene assigmments; Domestic animal gene mapping: a comparative map of the species ibvestigated; Conserved and variable elements of mammalian chromosomes; Karyotypic analyses in birds; Cytogenetics of domestic mink (Mustela vison); The karyotype of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris L.); Cytogenetics of the horse: adult nd embryonic cells; Equine cytogenetics: infertility and clinical practice of cytogenetics; Cytogenetic mapping of catle (Bos taurus L.) using quantitative analysis of the RBA map of prometaphase chromosomes; Application of cytogenetics to catle breeding improvement; Karyotype and phenitype in catle and hybrids of the genus; Sexual differentiation in relation to sex chromosome constitution in catle and swine; Chromosome aberrations: important indicators of environmental genotoxic effects in farm animals; Notes on the pig, goat, sheep, hybrida and cats; Differences in NOR activity levels of the chromosome pairs in spanish common rabbit; Evidence of Mendelian inheritance of NORs in Spanish vommon rabbit; High resolution GTG banding patterb of rabbit chromosomes.

The present Special Issue refers to the last 30 years of contributions to the application of cytogenetics to domestic animals, as clearly reported in the five-paper review. In addition, eight original contributions regarding the cytogenetics of several animal species are included. In each contribution, several thematic areas and various cytogenetic techniques are proposed to better demonstrate the potentiality of this biological technology in the genetic improvement of livestock. Special attention was paid to the presence of chromosomal abnormalities in domestic animals and their effects on reproduction, suggesting the routine use of karyotype analyses on reproducers to drastically reduce the effects on reproduction and the economic losses encountered by breeders. In addition to classical cytogenetic analyses such as chromosome banding, the use of molecular cytogenetics, especially the FISH mapping technique, with both specific molecular markers (generally BAC clones) and chromosome painting probes were emphasized in all papers to better study the following: (a) Chromosomal abnormalities; (b) The chromosomal evolution of species; (c) Physical gene mapping in light of genomic sequences in the most important domestic species. Finally, a specific review is dedicated to molecular cytogenetics, in which examples of applied molecular techniques, including the FISH technique, comparative genomic hybridization array, and PCR-based method, are reported.

Decades before the recent advances in molecular biology and the knowledge of the complete nucleotide sequence of several genomes, cytogenetic analysis provided the first information concerning the genome organisation. The exploration of molecular biology techniques in the cytogenetic area represents a powerful tool for advancement in the construction of physical chromosome maps of the genomes. The most important advances in cytogenetics comes from the physical anchorage of genetic linkage maps in the chromosomes through the hybridisation of DNA markers onto chromosomes. This book presents and discusses current research in the study of animal genomes under the focus of cytogenetics.

The present Special Issue refers to the last 30 years of contributions to the application of cytogenetics to domestic animals, as clearly reported in the five-paper review. In addition, eight original contributions regarding the cytogenetics of several animal species are included. In each contribution, several thematic areas and various cytogenetic techniques are proposed to better demonstrate the potentiality of this biological technology in the genetic improvement of livestock. Special attention was paid to the presence of chromosomal abnormalities in domestic animals and their effects on reproduction, suggesting the routine use of karyotype analyses on reproducers to drastically reduce the effects on reproduction and the economic losses encountered by breeders. In addition to classical cytogenetic analyses such as chromosome banding, the use of molecular cytogenetics, especially the FISH mapping technique, with both specific molecular markers (generally BAC clones) and chromosome painting probes were emphasized in all papers to better study the following: (a) Chromosomal abnormalities; (b) The chromosomal evolution of species; (c) Physical gene mapping in light of genomic sequences in the most important domestic species. Finally, a specific review is dedicated to molecular cytogenetics, in which examples of applied molecular techniques, including the FISH technique, comparative genomic hybridization array, and PCR-based method, are reported.

Cytogenetics of livestock; Introduction to historical development of cytology and cytogenetics; Cell division: mitosis and meiosis; Chromosome number and morphology; Cromosome aberrations; Banding of cromosome and karyotyping; Fertilization, pasthenogenesis and sex determination; Somati cell hybridzation; Fertility as affected by chromosomes; Laboratoty procedures for chromosome studies; Cattle chromosome; Sheep and goat chromosome; Swine chromosome; Chromosomes of horses, asses and mules; Bird cytogenetics.