A Note on the Somatic Y Chromosome of Reindeer (Rangifer Tarandus L.)

• Published in: Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica
• Main Authors: Gustavsson, Ingemar, Sundt, Carl Olov
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central 1969
• Subjects: Article; Nes; Nes’; The ''Y''; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8741067/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5355182; https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03548295

Recently a report on the reindeer chromosomes was published (Nes et al. 1965). The chromosome complement was described as consisting of 70 autosomes and a sex chromosome set of the XY-type. All autosomes were acrocentric except one pair which was submetacentric. The X was found to be submetacentric and also the largest chromosome of the complement. The Y was characterized as being the smallest acrocentric chromosome, and the authors stated that the Y chromosome could only occasionally be distinguished from the autosomes by its shorter length. In our studies of the same species we have found a quite different appearance concerning the Y chromosome.