Comparison between synaptonemal complexes at pachytene and chromosome association at metaphase I in heterozygotes for a "nonreciprocal" translocation of rye
A comparative analysis of synaptonemal complex formation at pachytene and chromosome association at metaphase I was carried out in heterozygotes for translocation T242W (2R/6R) of rye (Secale cereale L.). Synaptonemal complex formation supported earlier light microscopic observations that one exchanged segment of this translocation was very small and restricted to the telomere or had been lost. Negative interference between the interstitial segments with respect to chiasma formation was detected at metaphase I. This interference was apparently the result of the simultaneous occurrence of either asynapsis or nonhomologous pairing around the translocation point at pachytene. Negative interference detected across the centromere of 6R was attributed to nonhomologous pairing. The presence of an intercalary C-band in the interstitial segment 2RLi or in the 1RS arm had no apparent influence on synaptonemal complex formation. Unmatched ends of synaptonemal complex 1R and of the multivalent were in most cases associated with heterozygosity for the telomeric C-heterochromatin.Key words: Secale cereale, translocation, synapsis, interference, C-banding.