DISTRIBUTION OF SYNAPTONEMAL COMPLEX MATERIAL IN METAPHASE-I BIVALENTS OF LOCUSTA AND CHLOEALTIS (ORTHOPTERA, ACRIDIDAE)

At metaphase I synaptonemal complex (SC) material is located in a continuous but irregularly shaped bundle between sister chromatids. Only at the site of a chiasma is it present between homologous chromosomes. When the chromosomes pull apart at anaphase I the SC material becomes rearranged into poly-SCs which dissociate from the chromosomes. The observations agree with previous reports that modified SCs may function in meiotic chromosome disjunction. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.