Comparative Cytogenetics, 2010. Vol. 4, No. 1, P. 87-96. ISSN 1993-0771 (Print), ISSN 1993-078X (Online)

ARCHIVES

Nomenclature for the chromosomes of the common shrew
(Sorex araneus)

J.B. Searle*, S. Fedyk, K. Fredga, J. Hausser, V.T. Volobouev

(ISACC: International Sorex araneus Cytogenetics Committee)

* - recent address: Department of Biology (area 2), University of York, PO Box 373,
York, YOIO 5YW, UK,
E-mail: jbs3@york.ac.uk

Editorial comment. The common shrew, one of the characteristic small mammal
species of Europe and neighbouring Asia, has for decades been a focus of cytoge-
netic investigation due to remarkable chromosome variation at an individual as well
as at a population level. It is a fine example of long-term international collaboration
through a scientific grouping founded in 1987 as the International Sorex araneus Cy-
togenetics Committee ISACC). The cytogenetic characterisation of common shrews
over the whole species range, from Britain in the west to the Lake Baikal in the east,
was predicated on standard rules developed by the Committee. Thus, the basic no-
menclature for Sorex araneus chromosomes and chromosome races was published
in the proceedings of the second ISACC meeting held in Lausanne, Switzerland in
1990 and published in a local journal not available to many young people involved
in chromosome studies of the species, in particular those based in Russia. The Edito-
rial Board thanks Société vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles for permission to repub-
lish this paper here. Original: © Mém. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Natur. 19: 13-22 (1991).

Abstract. A G-band composite karyotype has been prepared for the common shrew
(Sorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758). This includes multiple cut-outs of each chromo-
some arm (in different stages of contraction) derived from chromosome spreads
prepared by a variety of methods by the different authors. The important features
of each chromosome arm are described. The nomenclature for the chromosome
arms follows that of Halkka et al. (1974) as clarified by Fredga, Nawrin (1977)
and subsequent authors, i.e. italicised letters of the alphabet are used with a as the
largest chromosome arm. Different authors have used a variety of methods to de-
scribe the karyotype of (a) individuals and (b) the pattern of variation within pop-
ulations. Also, definitions of chromosomal ‘race’ differ. We suggest a standardised
scheme for the description of individuals, populations and chromosomal races.

Key words: G-bands, standard karyotype, chromosome race, common shrew, Sorex
araneus.

http://pensoftonline.net/compcytogen PP Comparative
dot: 10.3897/compcytogen.v4i1.28 \ 4 Cytogenetics

&8

INTRODUCTION

The common shrew (Sorex araneus) has
one of the most variable karyotypes of any
mammal as a result of frequent Robertsonian
(centric) fusion mutations (and probably other
whole-arm rearrangements). Identification of
regional forms or particular karyotypes within
a population is near impossible with conven-
tional staining techniques. Therefore, chromo-
some banding methods are an essential aid for
the cytogeneticist working on S. araneus. The
utility of such methods was realised as early
as 1974, when Halkka et al. prepared a no-
menclature for the chromosomes of S. araneus
based on Q-banding pattern. In this nomencla-
ture, chromosome arms are described by let-
ters of the alphabet with “a” the largest and
“y” the smallest. Fredga, Nawrin (1977) used
the same system for their G-band karyotypes,
although by unfortunate circumstances they
labelled the arm “o” of Halkka et al. by the
letter “m’” and the arm “m” of Halkka et al. by
the letter “o”. Subsequent workers have gener-
ally used G-banding and all have followed the
Fredga, Nawrin (1977) nomenclature system,
except for Halkka and coworkers (Halkka et
al., 1987; Halkka, Soderlund, 1987).

We recommend that in all future work the
Fredga, Nawrin (1977) system is adopted,
because of its widespread usage to date. This
means that the recognised chromosome arm
“m? is smaller than “o”; but there are also
doubts as to whether “g” is smaller than “/’
(Searle, 1983) and whether “7” is smaller than
“h” (V.T. Volobouev, personal observation).
We also recommend that

-- italicised letters of the alphabet be used to
identify chromosome arms or uniarmed chro-
mosomes (e.g. d) where possible (i.e. in text
and tables), to avoid confusion with words,

-- the largest arm is given first in the de-
scription of biarmed chromosomes (e.g. af)

Comparative
4 Cytogenetics

A

4B. Searle et al.

without a numerical prefix, as a more logical
and simplified system (closer to that adopted
in the house mouse, Mus musculus which also
displays considerable Robertsonian varia-
tion).

This paper refers only to the chromosomes
of the common shrew, Sorex araneus. For a
comparison between the karyotype of S. ara-
neus and related species (S. coronatus, S. gra-
narius) see Volobouev (1989).

THE G-BAND KARYOTYPE

Rather than present a simple diagrammatic
idiogram, we decided to construct a composite
karyotype from some of our better photomi-
crographs (Figs 1-2). For each chromosome
arm, three good quality pictures were select-
ed, chosen for differences in chromosome
contraction and staining pattern. Chromosome
arms g - r are presented both in a dissociated
state and as components of biarmed chromo-
somes. It should be noted that the chromo-
somes illustrated were prepared by a variety of
techniques from different tissues after either
direct preparation or culture in vitro. All chro-
mosomes are reproduced at approximately the
same magnification.

We hope that Figures 1 and 2 and accom-
panying text will be a valuable guide and
reference. However, in order to help confirm
identification of difficult chromosomes we
urge new workers to make use of the many
karyotypes and diagrammatic idiograms in the
literature. Obviously, while a karyotype based
on one chromosome spread may not illustrate
such a wide range of possible staining patterns
as we have presented here, one may be able
to gauge more precisely the relative size of
particular chromosome arms and the relative
intensity of staining between arms under one
particular staining regime. Further advice is
freely available from any of the authors.

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

Nomenclature for the chromosomes of Sorex araneus

: ee
:
f

8&9

bc af

3 oo AD
< =a
o& @O
(aq 1
(Oo <Ba

«3

cee”

Sas
av

h

Fig. 1. Chromosome arms a - i (also, v, the short arm of Y,). The unlabelled biarmed chromosomes are as fol-
lows (given left to right): g- gm, gm; h: hj, hi; i: gi, hi.

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1) Comparative

v1 Cytogenetics

90 4B. Searle et al.

i
be
@la,

x my
. t)
=
aq

oe

tat

ft

ae
saw

ra

"a
4m.5
.

“«

‘2

See * ae

Y, tu

Fig. 2. Chromosome arms j - u. The unlabelled biarmed chromosomes are as follows (given left to right): 7: //
jl; k: kr, kq; l: jl, jl; m: gm, gm; n: kn, mn; o: no, io; p: pr; q: kq, kq; r: gr.

Comparative Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

4 Cytogenetics

Nomenclature for the chromosomes of Sorex araneus

‘THE CHROMOSOMES

(Figs 1, 2)

Hera

These are the large invariant biarmed au-
tosomes which are extremely easy to identify
from their size and banding pattern.

de, dv

The ‘X’ chromosome (de), found in two
copies in the female, is also an easily-identi-
fied, large biarmed chromosome. Males have
one copy of the X and one copy of the Y, chro-
mosome (and also one copy of the Y ,, see be-
low). The long arm of the Y, chromosome is
homologous to arm d of the X; there is also
a distinct, but very small short arm (v) which
is pale, like the centric region of the e arm of
the X.

The variable chromosomes g - 7

Chromosome arms g - 7 may occur as uni-
armed chromosomes (with a centromere that
appears terminal at the light microscope level)
or as constituents of biarmed chromosomes.
The chromosome arms m - r, while being dis-
tinctly smaller than the other variable chromo-
some arms, are of rather similar size relative
to each other (ranging from 2.4-3.4% of the
haploid female genome: Searle, 1983). These
small chromosomes are sometimes rather dif-
ficult to distinguish from each other and from
the Y, chromosome.

g

When the chromosomes are condensed,
this arm has a very large dark block extend-
ing over most of the chromosome arm, but
with a pale telomeric end. In longer chromo-
somes this large dark block resolves into two
wide dark bands with a central narrow pale
band. (Sometimes, in long chromosomes, the
dark band furthest from the centromere stains
more strongly, causing possible confusion
with chromosome arm 7). Also visible in long
chromosomes is a narrow dark band within the

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

91

pale telomeric region.

h

There is a narrow strong dark band at the
centromere and, in longish chromosomes, oth-
er narrow and much less dark bands (normally
four) are spaced evenly along the chromosome
arm.

7

There are many dark bands along this arm.
In long chromosomes, there are relatively
strong dark bands near the telomere and the
centromere. This arm is perhaps easiest identi-
fied from condensed chromosomes when in-
terstitial dark bands coalesce to produce a very
strong dark central band.

J

When a constituent of a biarmed chromo-
some, there are two narrow strong dark bands
at the centromeric end and one or two less
strong dark bands nearer the telomere. For
certain chromosomal races, the centromere of
jasauniarmed chromosome appears terminal
at the light microscope level and thus a similar
pattern to that seen in biarmed chromosomes
is observed (as illustrated in Fig. 2). However,
in other chromosomal races the centromere in
acrocentrics is located between the two ma-
jor dark bands and a distinct short arm can be
seen, which is particularly clear in convention-
ally-stained chromosome preparations.

k

This is an easily identified chromosome
arm with a narrow strong dark band at the cen-
tromere and a wide strong dark band near the
telomere.

l

When the chromosomes are condensed,
this arm has only a single wide dark band near
the telomere. When the chromosomes are lon-
ger, a narrow pale band subdivides the wide
dark block into two and a dark band is found
near the centromere.

Au Comparative
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92

mM, O

These chromosome arms are easily con-
fused, as both are characterised by two narrow
strong dark bands. However, in good prepara-
tions, several features should make identifica-
tion unequivocal. Arm m is smaller, with nar-
rower and more strongly-staining dark bands.
There is a pale band at the telomere and a sim-
ilarly sized interstitial pale band, but at most
only a small pale band at the centromere. In
chromosome arm o the centromeric, intersti-
tial and telomeric pale bands generally appear
to be of similar size. Studies in Germany, Fin-
land and Britain suggest that chromosome arm
o can have a telomeric nucleolus-organiser re-
gion (so that telomeric satellites may be seen:
Searle, 1983), not found on chromosome arm
m (Olert, Schmid, 1978; Halkka, Soderlund,
1987; Wallace, Searle, 1990). In common
shrews from near Aberdeen, U.K. (‘Aberdeen’
karyotypic race) C-banding revealed a telo-
meric band on chromosome arm m not found
on o (Searle, 1983).

n

This easily-identified arm has a narrow
strong dark centromeric band and a wide, but
less strong, dark band near the telomere.

p,rands

These chromosome arms all have a main
dark band close to the centromere and can be
difficult to distinguish. Chromosome arm s
is the Y, chromosome, one copy of which is
present in males. A distinct short arm is often
observed on the Y, chromosome (right-hand
chromosome in Fig. 2) not seen on the uni-
armed chromosomes p and r. Chromosome
arm p is usually distinctly larger than chromo-
some arms r and s. The main dark band on p
usually appears stronger and wider and closer
to the centromere than that found on r, but not
always. The dark band on s is also quite vari-
able. A second, rather weaker dark band is al-
most always seen near the telomere on arm 7,

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4B. Searle et al.

while such a band is not normal on s or on p,
if the chromosomes are short. However, when
the chromosomes are long, a faint telomeric
dark band may also be present on p. In gen-
eral, chromosome arms p and r are best distin-
guished when the chromosomes are short, in
which case p can be seen to be slightly larger
than r and the single dark band on p:p is dis-
tinctly darker and wider than either of the two
dark bands on r. This is well-illustrated in Fig.
2 by chromosomes pr (given as an example of
chromosome arm p) and gr (chromosome arm
r). We also recommend that readers examine
the karyotype in Searle, Wilkinson (1986).
Other staining techniques may also help to
distinguish chromosome arms p, r and s. As
is usual for the Y chromosome in mammals,
there is intense C-banding on chromosome
arm s (Schmid et al., 1982; Searle, 1983); it
is also late replicating and can be identified by
RBG banding (Schmid et al., 1982; Volobouev,
1989). C-banding may also help to distinguish
arms p and r (Searle, 1983).

q

As visualised down the light microscope
this chromosome arm has a dark band actually
on the centromere. In biarmed chromosomes
at all stages of condensation, this centromeric
staining is very distinctive. When the chromo-
somes are long, the arm has three clear dark
bands and a pale band at the telomere.

tu

A distinctive small metacentric which is
invariant in S. araneus. A large telomeric pale
band constitutes about half of chromosome
arm 1.

FURTHER NOMENCLATURE RULES

In description of karyotypes and specific
chromosomes of the common shrew, different
workers often differ in the general cytogenetic
terminology that they employ. We consider this
to be understandable and admissible. Thus,

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

Nomenclature for the chromosomes of Sorex araneus

uniarmed chromosomes may be described as
‘acrocentrics’ or ‘telocentrics’ according to the
standpoint of individual workers. Similarly,
biarmed chromosomes may be generalised as
‘metacentrics’ or else specified as ‘metacen-
tric’, ‘submetacentric’ etc. Workers can de-
scribe the structural rearrangements that occur
in the common shrew karyotype in the way that
they think most appropriate. For example, the
terms ‘Robertsonian fusion’, ‘Robertsonian
translocation’ and ‘centric fusion’ all specify
the same class of rearrangement and we be-
lieve that this is well-understood. Likewise,
workers may choose how to describe the vari-
ous forms of homozygous and heterozygous
individuals that may occur, as long as they are
careful with their definitions.

Thus, it is the nomenclature specific to the
common shrew which we need to pursue fur-
ther. We have already considered the nomen-
clature for individual chromosomes at some
depth. With further regard to the sex chromo-
somes, the XX/XY_ Y, nomenclature will gen-
erally be clearer and more widely understood
than the nomenclature of Halkka et al. (1974).
However, on occasion it will be more appro-
priate to use de instead of *X’, s instead of *Y ,’
and dv instead of ‘Y,’.

CHROMOSOMAL RACES

Different authors have different opinions
as to what constitutes a ‘chromosomal’ (or
‘karyotypic’) race. Some may consider any ho-
mozygous form which has parapatric or allo-
patric distribution relative to other such forms,
as a distinct ‘race’. Others lump together a va-
riety of such forms. While both strategies may
be appropriate, we urge authors not to ‘lump’
or ‘split’ excessively and, when lumping, it is
(a) desirable to lump forms likely to have com-
mon ancestry, (b) essential not to lump forms
whose karyotypes include different metacen-
trics with monobrachial homology.

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

95

When a new chromosomal race is first de-
scribed or when races are redefined, we rec-
ommend that a standardised description be
presented, giving details of all the chromo-
somes and indicating any major within-race
variation. An example of such standardised
description is as follows:

‘Oxford’ race: XX/XY_Y,, af, be, hi, gm,
jl, kq, no, pr/p,r, tu.

Note that the chromosomes are given in
approximate order of size. Within the Oxford
race, two widespread forms are recognised:
one characterised by the biarmed chromosome
pr and the other characterised by the uniarmed
chromosomes p and r.

As a further hypothetical possibility a
karyotypic race described as:

XX/XY_Y,, af, be, hi/h,i, k/q, no, pr, g, j, l,
m, tu (note the general structure: sex chromo-
somes, biarmed chromosomes including vari-
ants, uniarmed chromosomes, tu).

This race is characterised by biarmed chro-
mosomes no and pr and the uniarmed chro-
mosomes g, j, / and m (the sex chromosomes
and metacentrics af, bc and tu are invariant
in the common shrew). Also, within the race
there are two widespread forms (one charac-
terised by the biarmed chromosome /i and
the other characterised by the uniarmed chro-
mosomes / and 7) and a widespread polymor-
phism for arm combination kg such that both
the biarmed chromosome kg and the uniarmed
chromosomes é and g are found in the same
population over a considerable proportion of
the geographical area occupied by the race.

With the form of standardised description
given above, we consider that only substantive
variation within a chromosomal race should be
recorded. The polymorphism found in the vi-
cinity of hybrid zones with other races should
not be included. (This polymorphism should
be recorded when describing populations from
the contact area, see below). Likewise, any

vaN Comparative
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94

widespread but low-level polymorphism (such
as the polymorphism of arm combination j/ in
the Oxford race: Searle, 1983) should not be
included within the standardised description
of a race.

The standardised description should be
made when defining a new chromosomal
race, but thereafter descriptions of karyotypes
should be much shorter, including only those
chromosome arms known to be variable in the
complex of races under consideration. Thus,
in Britain only chromosome arms /, k, /, n, 0,
Dp, gq and r are known to be variable and there-
fore, in the context of Britain, the Oxford race
may be described as having a karyotype j/, kq,
no, pr/p,r.

Whenever a chromosomal race is newly
described in the literature, we strongly rec-
ommend that a karyotype, constructed from
cut-out chromosomes from one spread, be in-
cluded in the publication.

POPULATIONS

If it should be desirable to provide a stan-
dardised description of a population (i.e. in-
dividuals from one particular collection site),
the nomenclature is similar to that for chromo-
somal races, except that all whole-arm varia-
tion (however low the frequency of certain
forms), excluding aneuploids, should be re-
corded. However, the description should only
include the variation that has actually been re-
corded and not that which has been predicted.
Thus, the standardised description of an Ox-
ford race population in East Anglia might be
XX/XY_Y,, af, be, hi, gm, j/l, kq, no, p, % tu,
meaning that individuals in this population
are all homozygous for the biarmed chromo-
somes hi, gm, kg and no and for the uniarmed
chromosomes p and r, while both the biarmed
chromosome j/ and the uniarmed chromo-
somes j and / occur within the population (i.e.

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4B. Searle et al.

there is a polymorphism for arm combination
jl). Such a full description is usually unnec-
essary; thus, a maximally-polymorphic Ox-
ford race population near to the ‘Hermitage’
race may adequately be described as j//, k/q,
n/o, p/r. Additional nomenclature is required
to describe populations from within an inter-
racial hybrid zone if the races are character-
ised by different biarmed chromosomes with
monobrachial homology. Within the Oxford-
Hermitage hybrid zone, in a population where
all variable chromosome arms are known to
be found in all possible biarmed and uniarmed
states, the population would be described as
jl, ko/kq/no/k/n/o/q, p/r. However, if certain
of the possible biarmed chromosomes have
not been found at the site (kg, pr), the popu-
lation should be described as j//, ko/no/k/n/o,
bp. g, r. Note that biarmed chromosomes with
monobrachial homology and any homologous
uniarmed chromosomes are grouped in ap-
proximate order of size but with the biarmed
chromosomes always given first.

INDIVIDUALS

Basically the same nomenclature as used
for races and populations can be adapted for
individuals. So, the standardised description
of a homozygous male common shrew of the
predominant geographic form of the Oxford
race is 21, XY_Y,, af, be, hi, gm, jl, kq, no, pr,
tu. Two individuals which are heterozygous
for arm combination kg and homozygous for
the uniarmed chromosomes k and g would be
described as jl, k/g, no, pr and jl, no, pr, k, q,
respectively. Two types of Oxford-Hermitage
hybrid could be j/, ko/kq/no/n/q, pr and jl, ko/
no/k/n, pr, q, with the second hybrid having
the uniarmed chromosomes k and gq rather than
the biarmed chromosome xq. As an alternative
nomenclature for individuals whose karyo-
type includes metacentrics with monobrachial

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

Nomenclature for the chromosomes of Sorex araneus

homology, the chromosomes may be ordered
to show better the meiotic configuration that
will be formed. For example, in terms of those
chromosomes with monobrachial homology,
the two hybrids above may be described as
having karyotypes g/gk/ko/on/n and k/ko/on/n,
respectively.

The nomenclature outlined for individu-
als is appropriate for variation that has arisen
by Robertsonian (centric) fission or fusion or
whole-arm reciprocal translocation. Howev-
er, other chromosome variants may be found
and we include a provisional nomenclature to
cover these. This will be illustrated by ten ex-
amples:

De RN Ne yates Porte 2A. Oy, “Cush,
em, jl, kq, no, p, % tu

Additional Y, and p (double trisomy) plus
two additional chromosomes of unknown ori-
gin.

DOM URN AN Af, Or le OMe JL kG; NO, DY
tu/ 20, XY_Y,, - no, af, be, hi, gm, jl, kq, no,
DEMERS 2, MYC VAN ¥ 2°32 3uDe, 3:Ri 3 om,
3 fl 3° kg 23 N0,.3 pr, Stu

Mosaic with one cell clone of normal
karyotype, another with monosomy for vo and
a third triploid.

3. 21, XY_Y,, af, be, hi, gm, kqicms (kq),
no, pr, tu or as a shortened description: kg/
cms(kq)

Individual homozygous for biarmed chro-
mosome kg, one copy of which has had a
centromeric shift (‘cms’ only used for within-
chromosome rearrangements).

4. inv(kq)

Individual homozygous for biarmed chro-
mosome kg, both copies of which carry an in-
version.

5. k/dup,ins(k)

Individual homozygous for the uniarmed
chromosome k, on one copy of which a chro-
mosomal segment has been duplicated and
inserted elsewhere within the chromosome

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)

95:

(‘ins’ is not used for movement of a centro-
mere within a chromosome).

6. kq/del(k)/q

Individual heterozygous for arm combina-
tion kg with a deletion on the uniarmed chro-
mosome k.

7. 21,XY,Y,, af, be, hi, gm, kq/rcp(kq,tu)/
tu, no, pr or as a shortened description: kq/
rcp(kq, tu)/tu

Individual homozygous for the biarmed
chromosome kq with one copy involved in a
reciprocal translocation with tu.

8. kq/tan(k, tu)/g/tu

Individual heterozygous for arm combina-
tion kg with one copy of k involved in a tan-
dem fusion with tw.

9. ins(k,k)

Individual homozygous for uniarmed
chromosome « with material inserted from
one chromosome to the other.

10. kg/no/dup,ins(n,k)/o/q

Individual heterozygous for arm combina-
tions kg and no with a duplication of part of
chromosome k and insertion of that material
into chromosome n.

CONCLUSIUON

In this paper we have attempted to be as
comprehensive as possible in our description
of chromosome arms, our nomenclature for
chromosomes, and our nomenclature for the
cytogenetic characteristics of chromosomal
races, populations and individuals. Clearly,
the success of our nomenclature will depend
on whether it can be used simply and reliably
and whether workers choose to use it. We hope
to learn of any problem with the scheme and
any suggested additions. As a committee we
will continue our task of standardisation of de-
scriptions of karyotypic variation in the com-
mon shrew, Sorex araneus.

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\4 Cytogenetics

96

The online republication of this paper was
supported by Federal Target Program “Scien-
tific and scientific-educational staff of inno-
vated Russia” (contract 02.740.11.0282).

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Presented for republication by N.Sh. Bulatova,

October 30, 2009.
Republished July 09, 2010.

Comp. Cytogenet., 2010 4(1)