Related GMR Articles
Biodiversity crises have led scientists to develop strategies for achieving conservation goals. The underlying principle of these strategies lies in systematic conservation planning (SCP), in which there are at least 2 conflicting objectives, making it a good candidate for multi-objective optimization. Although SCP is typically applied at the species level (or hierarchically higher), it ... more
We developed a procedure to obtain fibroblasts from bat skin. A small fragment of the ear is removed under ether anesthesia. This material is then cut up into small pieces and cultured in standard cell culture media. Very good quality chromosome preparations for cytogenetic studies are obtained in about three weeks. Secondary cultures can be used for other biological studies. This ... more
The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are clonal hematopoietic diseases characterized by medullary dysplasia, cytopenias, and frequent evolution to acute myeloid leukemia. In 1982, the French-American-British (FAB) group proposed a classification for the MDS, based on morphological characteristics of peripheral blood and of the bone marrow. Later, cytogenetics proved to be a useful ... more
Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare, aggressive soft tissue tumor of unknown histogenesis showing predominantly epithelioid cytomorphology. We conducted a conventional and molecular cytogenetic study of a 27-year-old male with epithelioid sarcoma with angiomatoid features. Cytogenetic analysis of epithelioid sarcoma metaphase spreads by GTG-banding revealed a diploid chromosome complement with ... more
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for approximately 80% of all acute leukemias during childhood. Chromosomal anomalies resulting from gene fusion, which are frequent in leukemias, create hybrid transcripts, the great majority of which encode transcription factors. We analyzed 88 pediatric patients (median age 7.3 years) who had B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), using ... more
Genetic instability is frequent in human cancer. Unscheduled tetraploidization can trigger cell transformation and tumorigenesis. We made a cytogenetic analysis by Giemsa-trypsin banding of a stage I, biphasic Wilms tumor diagnosed in a 10-month-old male. An evident karyotypic heterogeneity was found. Four different subclones of tumor cells were observed, with DNA content varying from diploid ... more
In order to optimize preparations of bee metaphases, we tested cobalt chloride, which has been used as a metaphase inducer in other organisms, such as hamsters and fish. Four microliters of 65 mM cobalt chloride aqueous solution was topically applied to larval and pupal stages of the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. The cerebral ganglion was removed after treatment and ... more
We describe a case of retinoblastoma with an atypical presentation and previously unreported cytogenetic aberrations. A 19-month-old girl with left intraocular retinoblastoma was treated with enucleation and chemotherapy. The disease showed aggressive evolution within a short period between diagnosis and relapse. Eight months after diagnosis, a new large tumor was present in the orbit of the ... more
In principle, Triatoma melanocephala was included in the Brasiliensis subcomplex on the basis of morphological parameters and geographical layout, since there were no other relevant data available in the literature. On the basis of karyotype, it has been proposed to exclude T. melanocephala, as well as of T. vitticeps and T. tibiamaculata, from the ... more
Neotropical Primate karyotypes are highly variable, particularly in the heterochromatic regions, not only regarding the amount of heterochromatin, but also the composition. G and C banding and FISH techniques provide useful information to characterize interspecific relationships. We used chromosome microdissection to develop a FISH probe of the chromosome 11 heterochromatic block ( ... more