Complement with 38 chromosomes in two south American populations ofRattus rattus

Resumen Se estudiaron los cromosomas de 16 ejemplares deRattus rattus provenientes de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina) y del Estado de Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil). En todos los animales el complemento estuvo formado por 38 cromosomas. Considerando que en las ratas el complemento de 42 cromosomas es probablemente el mas generalizado, se sugiere que el complemento de 38 cromosomas ha derivado del de 42 mediante un proceso de reordenamiento cromosómico con fusión céntrica.     

Germ cell chromosomes in two species of terrestrial isopods from India

Summary In 2 species of terrestrial isopods, namelyPorcellio assamensis andP. laevis, the diploid and haploid numbers of chromosomes have been established to be 48 and 24 respectively for the former species and 50 and 25 respectively for the latter species. Female heterogamety of the ZW type has been found to exist inP. laevis.The authors express their sincere thanks to Prof. G.P. Sharma, and to Prof. S. Khera, Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, for the necessary laboratory facilities.     

The karyotype of the black rat (Rattus rattus L.). Another population with a 38-chromosomes complement

Riassunto In una popolazione italiana diRattus rattus L. è stato messo in evidenza un cariotipo a 38 cromosomi; la differenza nel numero diploide rispetto a quanto noto per altre popolazioni della stessa specie è dovuta a due fusioni centriche in condizione omozigote. Il confronto con i cariotipi forniti da altri autori per la specieRattus rattus ci fa proporre anche per questa specie di Roditori la presenza di un fenomeno di polimorfismo cromosomico.     

Packaging radium, selling science: boxes, bottles and other mundane things in the world of science

This article discusses the intersection of science and culture in the marketplace and explores the ways in which radium quack and medicinal products were packaged and labelled in the early twentieth century US. Although there is an interesting growing body of literature by art historians on package design, historians of science and medicine have paid little to no attention to the ways scientific and medical objects that were turned into commodities were packaged and commercialized. Thinking about packages not as mere containers but as multifunctional tools adds to historical accounts of science as a sociocultural enterprise and reminds us that science has always been part of consumer culture. This paper suggests that far from being receptacles that preserve their content and facilitate their transportation, bottles and boxes that contained radium products functioned as commercial and epistemic devices. It was the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act that enforced such functions. Packages worked as commercial devices in the sense that they were used to boost sales. In addition, 'epistemic' points to the fact that the package is an artefact that ascribes meaning to and shapes its content while at the same time working as a device for distinguishing between patent and orthodox medicines.     

Chromosomal identity of black rats (Rattus rattus) from the Galápagos Islands,Ecuador

Resumen Muestras de ratas negras (Rattus rattus) de siete islas del Archipiélago de Galápagos fueron examinadas para estudios de chromosomas. El número diploide de todos los animales es 38 y los cariotipos son idénticos a los de las poblaciones europeas, americanas, y australianas. La conclusión general es que la falta de variabilidad cariotípica de las poblaciones introducidas se explica por la capacidad de ratas de establecerse por medio de cambios fenotípicos.     

Oceanian type black rats (Rattus rattus) with a subtelocentric M2 chromosome and C-type transferrin obtained from North America

Résumé Dix rats (Rattus rattus) d'une colonie californienne ont été examinés. Cinq sont de type océanique. Les cinq autres ont 1 paire M₂ hétéromorphe, formée d'un métacentrique et d'un sub-métacentrique, ce qui implique une inversion péricentrique. Les transferrines sont du type océanique.     

The chromosomes ofBufo rubropunctatus andBufo chilensis (Anura,Bufonidae) and other species of thespinolosus group

Summary The chromosomes ofBufo rubropunctatus andB. chilensis (on basis of adults) are described for the first time. These chromosomic sets are compared with the karyotypes ofB. spinolosus andB. variegatus and other species ofspinolosus group. The importance of the secondary constrictions applied to the phylogeny ofBufo are discussed.Supported by Proyecto N⁰ S-77-47, Dirección de Investigación, Universidad Austral de Chile.I would like to thank Dr J. M. Cei for collecting the Argentinian toads. Mr N. Diaz collected the specimens from Santiago, Chile.The technical assistence of Sonia Lacrampe is acknowledged with appreciation.     

The question of lens regeneration from parts of the optic vesicle in the chick embryo

Résumé Après excision du cristallin des yeux d'embryons de poulet de 48–72 h d'incubation les vésicules optiques étaient cultivées in vitro ou sur le chorio-allantoöide d'autres embryons. Elles étaient cultivées en quelques cas seules et en autres cas avec l'ectoderme céphalique. Nouveaux cristallins ne se formaient que si l'ectoderme céphalique était inclus avec la vésicule optique et si les vésicules étaient prélevées des jeunes embryons. On peut conclure que les nouveaux cristallins se forment dans l'ectoderme céphalique par induction. Nous n'avons trouvé aucune évidence de régénération du cristallin des tissus de l'oeil.

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This work was supported by a grant from the National Research Council of Canada to D. J. McCallion.     

Structural correspondence between nucleolus- and sphere-organizing regions of the lampbrush chromosomes and secondary constrictions of the mitotic chromosomes

Riassunto Le regioni nucleolo-e sfera-organizzatrici dei «lampbrush chromosomes» diTriturus alpestris apuanus corrispondono a costrizioni secondarie presenti sui rispettivi cromosomi mitotici. Questo dato ripropone l'interesse per lo studio dell'origine e del significato delle sfere negli ovociti in accrescimento.

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With financial support by C.N.R., Rome.