Abstract
An important factor contributing to the success of DNA:DNA in situ hybridization is the preparation of clean chromosome spreads (1,2). The chromosomes and nuclei should be well separated and free of cytoplasm, debris, and dirt (Fig. 1). Nonspecific signal is deposited on cytoplasm and cell debris, and cytoplasm can mask the chromosomes and hinder the access of probe and detection reagents. This chapter describes two techniques for preparing chromosome spreads. The technique for preparing chromosomes by the squashing method (Section 3.2.) is modified from Schwarzacher et al. (3), and the dropping method (Section 3.3.) from Ambros et al. (1) and Geber and Schweizer (4).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ambros, P. F., Matzke, M. A., and Matzke, A. J. M. (1986) Detection of a 17 kb unique sequence (T-DNA) in plant chromosomes by in situ hybridization. Chromosoma 94, 11–18.
Schwarzacher, T., Leitch, A. R., Bennett, M. D., and Heslop-Harrison, J. S. (1989) In situ localization of parental genomes in a wide hybrid. Ann. Bot. 64, 315–324.
Schwarzacher, T., Ambros, P., and Schweizer, D. (1980) Application of Giemsa banding to orchid karyotype analysis. Plant Syst. Evol. 134, 293–297.
Geber, G. and Schweizer, D. (1988) Cytochemical heterochromatin differentiation in Sinapis alba (Cruciferae) using a simple air-drying technique for producing chromosome spreads. Plant Syst. Evol. 158, 97–106.
Mouras, A., Saul, M. W., Essad, S., and Potrykus, I. (1987) Localization by in situ hybridization of a low copy chimaeric resistance gene introduced into plants by direct gene transfer. Mol. Gen. Genet. 207, 204–209.
Murata, M. (1983) Staining air dried protoplasts for study of plant chromosomes. Stain Technology 58, 101–106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Schwarzacher, T., Leitch, A.R. (1994). Enzymatic Treatment of Plant Material to Spread Chromosomes for In Situ Hybridization. In: Isaac, P.G. (eds) Protocols for Nucleic Acid Analysis by Nonradioactive Probes. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 28. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-254-X:153
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-254-X:153
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-254-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-515-0
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols