Telomere arrangement in differentiated interphase cells of Allium cepa: a function of chromosome arm lengths at anaphase–telophase

The arrangement of telomeres in eight types of differentiated Allium cepa L. interphase cells was studied to find whether the distribution pattern varies with differentiation as centromere distribution appears to in differentiated cells of mice and Triturus vulgaris L. The results show that telomere positions and groupings in A. cepa are essentially the same in differentiated and meristematic interphase nuclei; telomeres, which are roughly paired, are arranged in a telophase configuration along one side of the nucleus. Thus telomeres appear to maintain the same basic arrangement in differentiated and in meristematic cells. Comparison of chromosome arm lengths and interphase telomere positions suggests that interphase telomere arrangements are a function of chromosome arm lengths at the time the nuclear envelope forms. Such an arrangement would place homologous telomeres in the same latitudinal band of the interphase nucleus.