Population differences in the expression of nucleolus organizer regions in the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans

Abstract

Fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed the presence of ribosomal RNA genes in paracentromeric regions of all A chromosomes and in the distal half of B chromosomes in embryonic cells from Moroccan specimens of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans. The expression of these genes was monitored by the presence of nucleoli attached to each chromosome bivalent in diplotene cells from males collected from two different Moroccan populations and was compared to previous data of Spanish populations. Whereas only the nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) on S9-S11 and X chromosomes were active in the Spanish specimens, Moroccan individuals showed NOR activity in all chromosomes. The rRNA genes on the B chromosome were inactive in both populations. The S9 and S10 NORs were less active in Moroccan specimens than in Spanish specimen, which might be partly explained by the negative inter-dependence for expression of the S10 NOR with respect to those on L2 and X chromosomes. On the other hand, the X NOR was more active in Moroccan specimens than in Spanish specimens, and this might be partly due to the positive effect that the presence of B chromosomes has on the expression of this NOR. The implications of these observations on current models of NOR activity regulation are discussed.