The banded chromosomes of the muskox ( Ovibos moschatus)

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Desaulniers, Daniel M., King, W. A., Rowell, Janice E., Flood, Peter F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1989
• Subjects: muskox; ovibos moschatus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z89-166; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z89-166

The muskox (Ovibos moschatus), a member of the family Bovidae, has 48 chromosomes consisting of 12 biarmed and 34 acrocentric autosomes, an acrocentric X chromosome, and a small metacentric Y chromosome. To obtain more information about this species, chromosome preparations from cultured lymphocytes were R-banded, C-banded, or stained with silver nitrate. R-banding was sufficient to identify individual chromosomes. C-banding revealed prominent centromeric bands on all acrocentric chromosomes and very faint staining of the centromeric regions of the biarmed chromosomes. This pattern has been observed in other bovids, such as sheep and water buffalo, which also have biarmed and acrocentric chromosomes. Silver nitrate staining revealed a per metaphase average of 5.23 nucleolus organizer regions, the chromosomal sites of rRNA genes. The nucleolus organizer regions were located on the ends of the long arm of three pairs of submetacentric and two pairs of acrocentric autosomes. Similar numbers of terminally located nucleolus organizer regions have been observed in other bovids such as cattle, sheep, and goats. These results parallel those obtained in other members of the family and emphasize the general cytogenetic similarity within the Bovidae.