Pattern of X-Y chromosome pairing in the Taiwan vole, Microtus kikuchii.

Pairing of X and Y chromosomes at meiotic prophase and the G- and C-banding patterns and nucleolar organizer region (NOR) distribution were analyzed in Microtus kikuchii. M. kikuchii is closely related to M. oeconomus and M. montebelli, karyologically and systematically. The formation of a synaptonemal complex between the X and Y chromosomes at pachytene and end-to-end association at diakinesis--metaphase I are only observed in three species in the genus Microtus; M. kikuchii, M. oeconomus, and M. montebelli. All the other species that have been studied so far have had asynaptic X-Y chromosomes. These data confirm that M. kikuchii, M. oeconomus, and M. montebelli are very closely related, and support the separation of asynaptic and synaptic groups on the phylogenetic tree.