Cross-species hybridizations in situ for identification of Robertsonian translocation in wild boar

Cross-species hybridizations in situ for identification of Robertsonian translocation in wild boar. Homologies and homeologies between human and pig chromosomes enabled human painting probes to be used for identification of chromosomes involved in homozygous centric fusion in the wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) with karyotype 36,XY,rob(15;17), which had been provisionally determined on the basis of G-bands (GTG technique). For interspecies hybridizations two commercial differently labelled human painting probes for chromosome pairs 2 and 20 were used. FISH with the human WCP 20 probe revealed green fluorescence signals on the short arms of the 15;17 translocated chromosomes, and after hybridization with the WCP 2 yellow signals were observed along the long arms of these rearranged acrocentric autosomes as well as on small fragments of the SSC3q arms. The results of cross-species hybridizations in situ have confirmed preliminary cytogenetic evaluation of the karyotype of the Robertsonian translocation-carrying wild boar as well as numerous homologies and homeologies between chromosomes of human and species (Sus scrofa domestica and Sus scrofa scrofa) belonging to the Suidae family. The results obtained have confirmed also the usefulness of commercial human painting probes for identification of chromosome rearrangements in other species that received little study.