FISH landmarks for Aedes aegypti chromosomes

Aedes aegypti metaphase chromosome landmarks have been developed so that each chromosome of the haploid genome can be unambiguously identified and oriented by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and digital imaging microscopy. The FISH tags were derived from three cosmids that contain repetitive Ae. aegypti sequences and their unique FISH tagging characteristics are demonstrated. The sequence of the three chromosomal tags revealed that the chromosome 1 tag is an 18S fragment from the ribosomal cistron, and the other two chromosomal tags are repeats found in Ae. aegypti with no apparent similarity to known sequences. A single plasmid that contains the three chromosomes tag sequences has been constructed to simplify future FISH physical mapping.