BackgroundThe mosquito Aedes aegypti is the primary global vector for dengue and yellow fever viruses. Sequencing of the Ae. aegypti genome has stimulated research in vector biology and insect genomics. However, the current genome assembly is highly fragmented with only ∼31% of the genome being assigned to chromosomes. A lack of a reliable source of chromosomes for physical mapping has been a major impediment to improving the genome assembly of Ae. aegypti.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn this study we demonstrate the utility of mitotic chromosomes from imaginal discs of 4th instar larva for cytogenetic studies of Ae. aegypti. High numbers of mitotic divisions on each slide preparation, large sizes, and reproducible banding patterns of the individual chromosomes simplify cytogenetic procedures. Based on the banding structure of the chromosomes, we have developed idiograms for each of the three Ae. aegypti chromosomes and placed 10 BAC clones and a 18S rDNA probe to precise chromosomal positions.ConclusionThe study identified imaginal discs of 4th instar larva as a superior source of mitotic chromosomes for Ae. aegypti. The proposed approach allows precise mapping of DNA probes to the chromosomal positions and can be utilized for obtaining a high-quality genome assembly of the yellow fever mosquito.

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Karyotype analysis of the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) was performed after DAPI-banding of metaphase chromosomes obtained from cultivated skin fibroblasts of a newborn animal. Fluorescence in situ hybridization with telomeric FITC-conjugated peptide nucleic acid probe was applied to map interstitial blocks of (TTAGGG)_n repeats. Strong fluorescence in situ hybridization signals corresponded to interstitial telomeric repeats in pericentromeric chromatin bands of chromosomes 2, 4, 14, 20, and X. High-resolution DAPI-banding allowed specifying the arrangement of bands in the pericentromeric regions of these chromosomes.

This short topical review/opinion paper is inspired by the recent study of Amoeba proteus cell cycle. These obligate agamic amoebae have a special type of cyclic polyploidy-an alternation of unproportional polyploidization and depolyploidization, with the latter provided by chromatin extrusion from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Here we discuss possible significance and mechanisms of this phenomenon, reconsider similar strategies of life cycles in other unicellular eukaryotes, and debate provocatively the fundamental issues, which could be brought up during its study-from functions of meiotic genes to evolution of sexual process to survival strategy of cancer cells.

Amoeba proteus is possibly the best known of all unicellular eukaryotes. At the same time, several quintessential issues of its biology, including some aspects of the cell cycle, remain unsolved. Here, we show that this obligate agamic amoebae and related species have a special type of cyclic polyploidy. Their nucleus has an euploid status only for a small fraction of the cell cycle, during metaphase and telophase. The rest of the time it has an aneuploid status, which is a consequence of polyploidization. Extrusion of “excess” chromatin from the nucleus in late interphase and during prophase results in depolyploidization. Such a strategy of life cycle in unicellular eukaryotes is thought to be the main mechanism of “resetting” the Muller's ratchet and is a satisfactory alternative to the meiotic recombination for agamic protists.