Polysaccharides as Constituents in Chromosome Organization: A Study on Meiotic Chromosomes of Grasshopper and Polytene Chromosomes of Dipterous Flies

Abstract

Study on meiotic chromosomes of grasshopper, Gesonula punctifrons and interphase polytene chromosomes from Dipteran larvae as of Chironomus striatipennis and Drosophila melanogaster following staining by periodic acid-Schiff technique revealed that chromosomes contained polysaccharides as an integral part of their organization. PAS ?ve nature of the chromosomes both at highly condensed state as available during meiotic cell division and at extended state as in polytene chromosomes supports the idea that chromosomes contain polysaccharides as one of the constituent biological macromolecules. PAS ?ve chromosomes appeared to be fluorescent under fluorescence microscope and fluorescence was found to be more or less uniform along the whole length of the meiotic chromosomes, while in case of polytene chromosomes intense fluorescence could be noticed along the band regions of the chromosomes.