Terminal heterochromatin and alternative telomeric sequences in Allium cepa

The chromosome termini of the onion (Allium cepa) apparently lack Arabidopsis-type telomeric repeats. The terminal Giemsa bands of A. cepa chromosomes contain a 375-bp satellite and (short arm of chromosome 8)/ or (short arm of chromosome 6) rDNA repeats. By means of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on metaphase chromosomes and on DNA fibres with probes specific for Ty1-copia retroelements and a En/Spm-transposable element-like sequence, respectively, it was demonstrated that the former are rarely and the latter frequently associated with satellite repeats within the terminal heterochromatin. Polymerase chain reaction of polyC-tailed nuclear DNA with anchor primers and single satellite-specific primers yielded amplification products that, after cloning and sequencing, revealed satellite sequences. This supports the idea that satellite repeats represent one class of terminal sequences in A. cepa.