Satellite associations of human acrocentric chromosomes identified by trypsin treatment at metaphase

Abstract
Metaphase plates (2526) were prepared from 28 normal adult individuals (12 .male. and 16 .female.) and then treated with the trypsin method in order to recognize the acrocentric chromosomes involved in the satellite associations. While the pattern of association of D-D, D-G and G-G acrocentric chromosome groups seems to be random, there evidently exists some preferential association, particularly between the pairs 13-14, 13-13, 13-21 and 21-21. This non-random participation of the acrocentric chromosomes could fit with the new concepts of interphase/metaphase organization of the chromatin fiber.