ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the current state and future perspectives of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in insect chromosomes. FISH in insect chromosomes is most often used for mapping repetitive DNA sequences, in which it is especially efficient. These sequences can be provisionally subdivided into the so-called satellite DNA, which usually occurs in clusters, and transposable elements. In insects, chromosome painting is most often used to explore origin and evolution of particular chromosomes and their regions by studying their specific properties. In particular, any chromosome and/or chromosomal segment within a given karyotype can be reliably recognized using this technique. In addition to FISH with known centromeric repeats, specific regions of certain insect chromosomes are also studied using microdissection. These works include studying centromeres, and heterochromatic segments. This research demonstrated that centromeric regions of different chromosomes within a given karyotype could substantially differ in their DNA content.
