• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.247-253
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• 2010

Telomeres are nucleoprotein structures at the ends of chromosomes consisting of DNA sequences arranged in tandemly repeated units $(TTAGGG)_n$. However, this hexamers can also occur at non-telomeric sites in some avians and vertbrate. This study was carried out to present the distribution of telomeric DNA sequences in Korean Native Chicken chromosomes. The fluorescence in situ hybridization technique using a telomeric DNA probe was performed to the metaphase spreads of chicken early embryonic cells. Telomeric DNA signals were detected at the ends of chromosomes including macrochromosomes and microchromosomes. In chicken, surprisingly, chromosome 1 showed very distinct interstitial telomeric DNA hybridization patterns which located two interstitial sites in the p-arm at 1p11 and 1p23, and one in the q-arm at 1q32. In chromosome number 2 and 3 also displayed interstitial telomeric signals (ITS) in the long arms at 2q24 and 3q32, respectively. The pattern of telomeric DNA distribution in Korean Native Chicken chromosomes was in agreement with a previously reported in Gallus domesticus. The relative amount of telomeric DNA sequences in each macrochromosomes ranged from 4.6% to 16.3%. Distribution of telomeric DNAs at the end of p-arm was much more than that of q-arm in almost chicken chromosomes. The distribution of ITS in chicken chromsomes implicate to tandem chromosome fusions that might have occurred during the process of karyotype evolution.