High resolution G-banding patterns of Syrian hamster chromosomes.

The late prophase, prometaphase, early metaphase, and metaphase chromosomes of Syrian hamster embryo fibroblast cells were G-banded using a technique combining actinomycin D pretreatment and Wright/Giemsa staining. Late prophase chromosomes have approximately twice as many bands as metaphase chromosomes, whereas prometaphase and early metaphase chromosomes have intermediate numbers of bands. An idiogram for metaphase and late prophase chromosomes is presented, and a nomenclatural system for identifying individual bands of Syrian hamster chromosomes is proposed.