Identical megabase transgenes on mouse chromosomes 3 and 4 do not promote ectopic pairing or synapsis at meiosis

Genome ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 770-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. B. Moens ◽  
J. A. M. Heddle ◽  
B. Spyropoulos ◽  
H. H. Q. Heng

To investigate ectopic interactions at the chromatin level, we examined the meiotic organization of 1–2 mb phage λ transgenes on mouse chromosomes 3 and 4 by fluorescence in situ hybridization in combination with immunocytology of meiotic chromosomes. At early meiotic prophase, the transgenes are sufficiently dispersed in the nuclear volume to permit potential DNA–DNA interactions, but no synaptonemal complexes form between the sites of transgenes residing on different chromosomes. At later stages, when the chromatin is more condensed, the transgenes on different chromosomes are not preferentially associated as they are when they are on the same chromosome. At diplotene and metaphase I, no formations were observed that could be interpreted as reciprocal crossovers or chiasmata between the transgenes located on chromosomes 3 and 4. It appears that in normal fertile mice, a 1- to 2-mb homology is insufficient to initiate synapsis between nonhomologs, and it is concluded that homology is assessed within the broader context of the chromosome to initiate synapsis at meiotic prophase.Key words: transgenes, ectopic pairing, meiosis, synaptonemal complex, immunocytology, FISH.

Genome ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry HQ Heng ◽  
Guo Liu ◽  
Wei Lu ◽  
Steve Bremer ◽  
Christine J Ye ◽  
...  

The spectral karyotyping procedure of in situ hybridization with chromosome-specific probes assigns a unique colour code to each of the 21 mouse mitotic chromosomes. We have adapted this procedure to meiotic prophase chromosomes, and the results show that each of the pachytene or metaphase I bivalents can be identified. This technique has the potential to recognize synaptic anomalies and chromosome-specific structural and behavioural characteristics. We confirm these potentials by the recognition of the heterologous synapsis of the X and Y chromosomes and by the variances of synaptonemal complex lengths for each of the colour-coded bivalents in eight prophase nuclei.Key words: SKY, meiosis, synaptonemal complex, multicolour, chromosome painting, spectral karyotyping, protein-SKY co-detection.


Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 163 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasanuzzaman Bhuiyan ◽  
Gunilla Dahlfors ◽  
Karin Schmekel

Abstract The synaptonemal complex (SC) keeps the synapsed homologous chromosomes together during pachytene in meiotic prophase I. Structures that resemble stacks of SCs, polycomplexes, are sometimes found before or after pachytene. We have investigated ndt80 mutants of yeast, which arrest in pachytene. SCs appear normal in spread chromosome preparations, but are only occasionally found in intact nuclei examined in the electron microscope. Instead, large polycomplexes occur in almost every ndt80 mutant nucleus. Immunoelectron microscopy using DNA antibodies show strong preferential labeling to the lateral element parts of the polycomplexes. In situ hybridization using chromosome-specific probes confirms that the chromosomes in ndt80 mutants are paired and attached to the SCs. Our results suggest that polycomplexes can be involved in binding of chromosomes and possibly also in synapsis.


Genome ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Albini ◽  
T. Schwarzacher

Surface-spread pollen mother cells at meiotic prophase from Secale cereale (rye) were used for fluorescent DNA:DNA in situ localization of two tandemly repeated DNA sequences: pTa71, a wheat rDNA clone, and pSc119.2, a cloned 120-bp repeat from rye heterochromatin. The fluorescent hybridization signal, consisting of many yellow-green dots, was closely associated with the bivalent axes, corresponding to the synaptonemal complex, and located in the surrounding chromatin. The rDNA signal was associated with one bivalent, the smallest of the seven, at a distance about 13% of the bivalent length from the telomere. This corresponded to the position of the nucleolar organizing region of silver-stained synaptonemal complexes analyzed under the electron microscope and published data for somatic metaphase chromosomes. The relative length of the axis covered with the rDNA signal is less than expected from somatic metaphases, but it corresponds more closely to the proportion of the sequences in the genome. The hybridization signal with the 120-bp repeat was located mainly at the telomeric regions of several bivalents that showed thickenings of the axis after DAPI staining, probably corresponding to somatic C-bands. These major and some minor intercalary sites agree with the distribution of the 120-bp repeat in somatic metaphase. Fluorescent in situ hybridization to plant surface-spread pachytene chromosomes, which can be obtained in large numbers, has great potential for studying meiotic prophase, high-resolution mapping of DNA sequences, and investigating the relationship of DNA sequences to the synaptonemal complex.Key words: in situ hybridization, cereals, pachytene, meiosis, synaptonemal complex, physical mapping.


Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 427-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G Peterson ◽  
Nora L V Lapitan ◽  
Stephen M Stack

Abstract Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a powerful means by which single- and low-copy DNA sequences can be localized on chromosomes. Compared to the mitotic metaphase chromosomes that are normally used in FISH, synaptonemal complex (SC) spreads (hypotonically spread pachytene chromosomes) have several advantages. SC spreads (1) are comparatively free of debris that can interfere with probe penetration, (2) have relatively decondensed chromatin that is highly accessible to probes, and (3) are about ten times longer than their metaphase counterparts, which permits FISH mapping at higher resolution. To investigate the use of plant SC spreads as substrates for single-copy FISH, we probed spreads of tomato SCs with two single-copy sequences and one low-copy sequence (ca. 14 kb each) that are associated with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers on SC 11. Individual SCs were identified on the basis of relative length, arm ratio, and differential staining patterns after combined propidium iodide (PI) and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. In this first report of single-copy FISH to SC spreads, the probe sequences were unambiguously mapped on the long arm of tomato SC 11. Coupled with data from earlier studies, we determined the distance in micrometers, the number of base pairs, and the rates of crossing over between these three FISH markers. We also observed that the order of two of the FISH markers is reversed in relation to their order on the molecular linkage map. SC-FISH mapping permits superimposition of markers from molecular linkage maps directly on pachytene chromosomes and thereby contributes to our understanding of the relationship between chromosome structure, gene activity, and recombination.


Author(s):  
Zhi Gao ◽  
Fangpu Han ◽  
Tatiana V. Danilova ◽  
Jonathan C. Lamb ◽  
Patrice S. Albert ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document