Chromosome evolution in fish: BrdU replication patterns demonstrate chromosome homeologies in two species of the genus Astyanax.

A comparison of R-banding patterns obtained by 5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation was made between the chromosomes of two fish species of the genus Astyanax (Characiformes: Tetragonopterinae), A. altiparanae with 2n = 50 chromosomes, and A. schubarti with 2n = 36 chromosomes. The two species present the highest and the lowest chromosome numbers found in this fish genus, respectively, for which the modal chromosome number is 50. R-band homeology was detected, involving eleven chromosomes of A. schubarti and seventeen chromosomes of A. altiparanae, indicating a close chromosomal relationship between the two species, in spite of their great difference in chromosome number. A chromosome fusion in the past history of the group was hypothesized as a possible cause of the discrepant chromosome numbers of the two species. Copyright 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.