SISTER CHROMATID EXCHANGES IN RIVER BUFFALO FEMALES WITH CHROMOSOMAL FRAGILITY

Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) technique is considered a very important test tocheck potential damage to the DNA, expressed by chromosomal fragility andassociated with high rates of SCEs. In the present study we report the preliminaryresults of our investigation on chromosomal fragility identified in buffalochromosomes and the relationship with the increased SCE levels. The karyotypeanalyses carried out on a group of 16 river buffalo females selected and treated forhormonal stimulation and on a control group of 16 normal river buffalo femalesrevealed that three of the treated females were found to carry a higher number ofbreakages/cell comparative with the control group. The mean number of SCE/cell inthe three treated females was higher (X=11.8) than that of those observed in thecontrol group (X=7.8).