High-resolution R-banding at the 1250-band level. III. Comparative analysis of morphologic and dynamic R-band patterns (RHG and RBG).

High-resolution human chromosomes were obtained from lymphocytes after thymidine synchronization. The block was released either with thymidine to produce GTG (G-bands by trypsin using Giemsa) and RHG (R-bands by heating using Giemsa) banding or with BrdU (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine) for RBG (R-bands by BrdU using Giemsa) banding. RHG and RBG band patterns are only 75 to 85% congruent. The dissimilarities increase with the band number per genome and vary from one chromosome region to another. After high-resolution RBG banding, the BrdU-substituted bands show an unequal condensation delay, which can be, according to the bands involved, very important, minimal, or even absent. The bands showing the highest degree of condensation delay are the bands replicating the latest. The GTG- and RHG-band patterns show complementary matching for about 90% of the bands. It was found that two third of the chromosome surface appears positively stained after R-banding. This suggests that more DNA is replicated during early S-phase than during late S-phase. To obtain a fully developed RBG-band pattern in 90 to 95% of harvested mitoses, a period of 4.5 hours after the removal of the blocking agent is optimal. Such a brief release period also implies that late S-phase is much shorter than early S-phase.