Chapter 25
Zoo-FISH
HARRY SCHERTHAN*
Introduction
Zoo-FISH or comparative chromosome painting between distantly related
mammalian species (Scherthan et al. 1994) provides a means of rapidly
generating crude comparative chromosome maps which disclose regions
of synteny conserved among eutherian genomes (Comparative Genome
Organization 1996). Such maps contribute particularly to comparative
genomics in species combinations where comparative mapping data
are limited or not available at all. Furthermore, they allow reconstruction
of the karyotypic rearrangements which accompanied mammalian radiations (for review see O'Brien et al. 1997, Chowdhary et al. 1998).
Principles and applications
Comparative chromosome painting (also termed heterologous- or crossspecies chromosome painting) denotes a molecular cytogenetic technique
which utilizes chromosomal in situ suppression hybridization (Lichter et
al. 1988, Pinkel et al. 1988, Bouffler 1994) with human whole chromosome
paint probes (WCPs) to delineate regions of conserved synteny between
the complements of species within a mammalian order (Wienberg et al.
1990). Due to the high degree of molecular homology among primate genomes (Kohne et al. 1972, Sibley et al. 1990), comparative chromosome
painting results in readily detectable conserved homology segments
(Wienberg et al. 1990, Jauch et al. 1992) and has proven to be a valuable
Harry Scherthan, University of Kaiserslautern, Dept. of Human Biology and Human
Genetics, Erwin-Schroedingerstr. 14, Kaiserslautern, 67663, Germany (phone +49-631205-2107; fax +49-631-205-2878; e-mail scherth@uni.de)
>(- present address: Max-Planck-Inst. for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestr. 73, Berlin,
D-14195, Germany.
PROTOCOL
Zoo-FISH
HARRY SCHERTHAN*
Introduction
Zoo-FISH or comparative chromosome painting between distantly related
mammalian species (Scherthan et al. 1994) provides a means of rapidly
generating crude comparative chromosome maps which disclose regions
of synteny conserved among eutherian genomes (Comparative Genome
Organization 1996). Such maps contribute particularly to comparative
genomics in species combinations where comparative mapping data
are limited or not available at all. Furthermore, they allow reconstruction
of the karyotypic rearrangements which accompanied mammalian radiations (for review see O'Brien et al. 1997, Chowdhary et al. 1998).
Principles and applications
Comparative chromosome painting (also termed heterologous- or crossspecies chromosome painting) denotes a molecular cytogenetic technique
which utilizes chromosomal in situ suppression hybridization (Lichter et
al. 1988, Pinkel et al. 1988, Bouffler 1994) with human whole chromosome
paint probes (WCPs) to delineate regions of conserved synteny between
the complements of species within a mammalian order (Wienberg et al.
1990). Due to the high degree of molecular homology among primate genomes (Kohne et al. 1972, Sibley et al. 1990), comparative chromosome
painting results in readily detectable conserved homology segments
(Wienberg et al. 1990, Jauch et al. 1992) and has proven to be a valuable
Harry Scherthan, University of Kaiserslautern, Dept. of Human Biology and Human
Genetics, Erwin-Schroedingerstr. 14, Kaiserslautern, 67663, Germany (phone +49-631205-2107; fax +49-631-205-2878; e-mail scherth@uni.de)
>(- present address: Max-Planck-Inst. for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestr. 73, Berlin,
D-14195, Germany.
PROTOCOL