Abstract
We established chromosome homology between human and the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) using a powerful modern molecular cytogenetic technique: multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (mFISH). mFISH allows the classification of mammalian chromosomes based on their DNA content rather than solely on morphological features such as banding patterns. The Macaca mulatta karyotype consists of 42 chromosomes: 20 pairs of autosomes and the X and Y sex chromosomes. We confirmed a pronounced similarity between the human (Homo sapiens, HSA) and macaque (Macaca mulatta, MMU) genomes: 16 out of 22 macaque chromosomes showed homology to a single human chromosome, and 13 of them have human homologs with the same numbers. Only three macaque chromosomes show hybridization signals from two human chromosomes, and a single human probe for chromosome 2 labels two pairs of acrocentric monkey chromosomes. Altogether, mFISH is expected to become an indispensable tool in comparative chromosome studies.
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