5-methylcytosine in heterochromatic regions of chromosomes in Bovidae.

The centromeric regions of cattle, goat and sheep chromosomes bind anti-5-MeC as revealed by immunofluorescence technique, indicating concentration of 5-MeC at these heterochromatic regions. The centromere of the submetacentric X of cattle remains nearly unstained and so do the centromeres of the acrocentric X chromosomes in goat and sheep. The short arm of the cattle Y exhibits strong anti-5-MeC binding whereas the tiny Y chromosomes of goat and sheep contain no brightly fluorescent material.