Detailed description and nomenclature of G-banded Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) chromosomes

SUMMARY

The chromosomes of the Arabian camel or the one humped camel, Camelus dromedarius, have been studied using cell cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes. It was found that the diploid chromosome number for the C. dromedarius is 74, with a karyotype consisting of 62 acrocentric, 8 metacentric and 2 submetacentric autosomes. The X chromosome is large metacentric and the B chromosome is a small metacentric sex chromosome. The G-band patterns have also been described for the first time and illustrated idiogrammatically in order to simplify the G-banding nomenclature for C. dromedarius. This could constitute a basis for a standard nomenclature for the chromosomes of the Camelidae.