Heterochromatin staining pattern of quail-chicken hybrid lymphocytes

Feulgen-Rossenbeck staining of lymphoid cells of quail-chicken hybrids in histologic sections revealed a pattern of heterochromatin arrangement distinguishable from that of either parental type. During interphase, hybrid lymphocytes exhibited combined characteristics of both the parental quail and the parental chicken. Hybrid heterochromatin was arranged in a large central mass as in the quail and in fairly evenly distributed small chromacenters around the periphery of the nucleus similar to the arrangement in the chicken. It is suggested that this pattern of staining can be used as a marker for hybrid cells in studies of genetic interactions.