猕猴精母细胞联会复合体的银染色观察

作者以银染的雄性猕猴减数分裂标本,研究联会复合体的形成和行为,特别是性泡内X、Y染色体有规律的变化。指出常染色体联会复合体的形成开始于偶线期,成熟于粗线期,开始消失于弥散期。在粗线期可见20条清晰的常染色体联会复合体,其中1条带有呈深黑色的核仁组织者。X、Y染色体同源区段的配对,开始于早粗线期。随着粗线期的发展,由侧面配对转为端部配对状。性染色体配对的解体也比常染色体联会复合体晚,在弥散期仍清晰可见。在整个前期,X、Y的着色也比常染体联会复合体深。在一些细胞中,X染色体显示一种特殊的“发夹状”结构。这是在性染色体进化过程中X染色体由于易位得到的重复片段在粗线期同源配对的一种细胞学表现。     

四种猕猴属动物精母细胞联会复合体的比较研究

本工作采用去污剂微铺展——硝酸银染色技术研究熊猴、平顶猴、藏酋猴、恒河猴及其亚种毛耳猴的精母细胞联会复合体（SC）核型、SC的结构及其在减数分裂中的行为。结果表明这几种动物的SC核型以及SC的发育过程基本一致。SC的形成开始于偶线期,成熟于粗线期,解体于双线期。在减数分裂前期,性染色体轴呈强嗜银性,配对明显落后于常染色体。根据减数分裂前期性染色体的形态和行为,性染色体的配对可分为五种类型。此外,本文还对XY染色体的同源性和侧轴加粗等现象进行了讨论。     

鹿科麂属动物基因组演化研究进展

鹿科麂属(Muntiacus, Cervidae)在近两三百万年内经历了快速物种辐射, 但其物种间核型差异巨大. 5个现生种核型数据显示, 该类群染色体数目范围从小麂(Muntiacus reevesi)的46条到赤麂(M. muntjak vaginalis)的6条. 该类群的基因组在较短时间内发生了快速演化, 使其成为进化生物学研究的理想材料. 40多年来, 技术的革新使该领域的研究不断深入, 染色体重排的类型、推动重排的分子机制及物种间的核型演化历程逐渐被阐释. 而且, 研究中发现, 雄性黑麂(M. crinifrons)1p+4染色体的演化途径与哺乳动物Y染色体的演化历程相似, 可成为哺乳动物性染色体演化研究的珍贵模型. 有关麂属动物基因组演化依然有许多问题等待更加全面、深入的探讨. 本文总结了该领域研究进展, 并对未来研究热点进行了展望.     

德国(虫非)蠊精母细胞联会复合体(SC_s)组型及辐射诱发的SC_s畸变

以表面铺展法制备德国(虫非)蠊精母细胞联会复合体(SC_s)标本,经硝酸银染色后作电镜观察。结果表明,减数分裂SC_s组型和有丝分裂染色体组型基本一致;在减数分裂前期,X染色体自身折叠形成典型的“发夹”状结构。电离辐射诱发SC_s出现多种畸变,如倒位、重复、缺失、易位以及SC提前分离等。对X染色体自身折叠形成的可能机制、SC缠绕交叉与染色体交换的关系以及SC畸变分析的潜在应用价值和遗传学意义作了讨论。     

家鸡联会复合体的亚显微结构分析

本文以表面铺展——硝酸银染色技术,对家鸡的联会复合体(Syneptonemal Complex,SC)作亚显微结构分析。根据对10个精母细胞和10个卵母细胞SC的测量结果,绘制组型图。发现雌雄家鸡的常染色体的SC组型相同。在精母细胞中,性染色体(ZZ)的行为与常染色体相似。在卵母细胞中,性染色体ZW的长度不同,长轴为Z,短轴为W,两者之间只有部分配对,形成SC。从早粗线期到晚粗线期,由同源配对调整为非同源配对。另外,在一只雌鸡中,第一次观察到,有些细胞的常染色体能正常配对,而性染色体完全不配对的现象。     

褐家鼠精母细胞中联会复合体的研究 Ⅱ.性染色体配对形态和行为的研究

用表面铺展-AgNO_3和PTA染色技术,对雄性褐家鼠性染色体配对形态和行为进行研究表明:X和Y轴在减数分裂前期Ⅰ的不同阶段固缩速度不同;性染色体在配对之前轴心增粗、配对延迟到早粗线期;性染色体首次配对起始区发生在X和Y短臂端粒区,其次配对起始区发生在X与Y长臂的端粒区或长臂的中间区;在中粗线期几乎整条Y与约1/3 X配对形成X-YSC;配对区的侧生组分分为两股,其中一股发生泡状变形,不配对片段发生多种变形。本文对X和Y配对起始位点,配对的同源性及XY轴心增厚与变形机制作了讨论.     

黑麂和费氏麂四种卫星DNA的克隆特征和染色体定位

近年来,分子细胞遗传学研究已基本证实了染色体的串联融合(端粒-着丝粒融合)是麂属动物核型演化的主要重排方式。尽管染色体串联融合的分子机制还不清楚,但通过染色体的非同源重组,着丝粒区域的卫星DNA被认为可能介导了染色体的融合。以前的研究发现在赤麂和小麂染色体的大部分假定的串联融合位点处存在着非随机分布的卫星DNA。然而在麂属的其他物种中,这些卫星DNA的组成以及在基因组中的分布情况尚未被研究。本研究从黑麂和费氏麂基因组中成功地克隆了4种卫星DNA(BMC5、BM700、BM1.1k和FM700),并分析了这些卫星克隆的特征以及在小麂、黑麂、贡山麂和费氏麂染色体上的定位情况。结果表明,卫星I和IIDNA(BMC5,BM700和FM700)的信号除了分布在这些麂属动物染色体的着丝粒区域外,也间隔地分布在这些物种的染色体臂上。其研究结果为黑麂、费氏麂和贡山麂的染色体核型也是从一个2n=70的共同祖先核型通过一系列的串联融合进化而来的假说提供了直接的证据。     

棕色田鼠性染色体联会复合体配对的形态学研究

以界面铺展———硝酸银染色方法制备棕色田鼠性染色体联会复合体标本,电镜观察了性染色体联会复合体的形成过程。性染色体轴深染加粗,在早粗线期开始联会;中粗线期Ｙ轴以其全长与Ｘ轴约３／８配对,Ｘ轴形成发夹状结构;晚粗线期先于常染色体解联会。并对性染色体间同源性与非同源性配对机制作了探讨     

黑麂和费氏麂四种卫星DNA的克隆特征和染色体定位(英文）

近年来,分子细胞遗传学研究已基本证实了染色体的串联融合(端粒－着丝粒融合)是麂属动物核型演化的主要重排方式。尽管染色体串联融合的分子机制还不清楚,但通过染色体的非同源重组,着丝粒区域的卫星DNA被认为可能介导了染色体的融合。以前的研究发现在赤麂和小麂染色体的大部分假定的串联融合位点处存在着非随机分布的卫星DNA。然而在麂属的其他物种中,这些卫星DNA的组成以及在基因组中的分布情况尚未被研究。本研究从黑麂和费氏麂基因组中成功地克隆了4种卫星DNA（BMC5、BM700、BM1.1k和FM700）,并分析了这些卫星克隆的特征以及在小麂、黑麂、贡山麂和费氏麂染色体上的定位情况。结果表明,卫星I和II DNA (BMC5, BM700和FM700)的信号除了分布在这些麂属动物染色体的着丝粒区域外,也间隔地分布在这些物种的染色体臂上。其研究结果为黑麂、费氏麂和贡山麂的染色体核型也是从一个2n＝70的共同祖先核型通过一系列的串联融合进化而来的假说提供了直接的证据。     

黑麂Y染色体的鉴别和Sry基因的克隆及定位

以流式细胞仪分离小麂(Muntiacus reevesi)Y染色体和黑麂(Muntiacus crinifrons)Y1,Y2,X+4和1号染色体,利用DOP-PCR技术富集了分离的各单条染色体。然后,将小麂的Y染色体的DOP-PCR产物经Cy3标记后直接作为涂染探针,应用染色体涂染技术与雌雄黑麂的核型标本进行杂交,确认了黑麂真正的Y染色体为Y2染色体。再以黑麂的Y1,Y2,X+4和1号染色体的DOP-PCR产物为模板,用人的特异性的SRY（sex determining region of the Y chromosome）基因引物对其进行扩增,结果表明黑麂只有Y2染色体出现了SRY扩增片段。然后扩增产物克隆和测序,比较它与人的同源性,初步把黑麂的Sry基因定位在Y2染色体上。最后提取雄性黑麂的基因组DNA,并用同一对引物对其进行扩增,亦得到Sry基因的片段,对此扩增片段进行克隆,测序,结果表明其与Y2染色体得到的Sry基因片段完全一样,与人SRY基因的同源性均为83%。 Abstract：The single Y chromosome of Muntiacus reevesi and Y1,Y2 ,X+4,1 chromosome of Muntiacus crinifrons were obtained by flow-sorting ,then they were amplified through DOP-PCR . After that, the metaphase karyotype of Muntiacus crinifrons were painted by using the product of the DOP-PCR of the Y chromosome of Muntiacus reevesi as a special probe and the result showed that Y2 chromosome was the real Y chromosome of Muntiacus crinifrons. Secondly the product of the DOP-PCR of Y1,Y2,X+4,1 chromosome of Muntiacus crinifrons were used as the templates of the next amplification using the special primer devised according to the human SRY gene .One band was obtained only from Y2 chromosome, then it was cloned to the T-vector and sequenced. The Sry gene sequence of Muntiacus crinifrons was acquired and the conclution was that there are 83% homology between the human and Muntiacus crinifrons. It was testified that in all mammal Sry gene is consertive. On the other side the Sry gene was located to the Y2 chromosome of the Muntiacus crinifrons.     

High-density comparative BAC mapping in the black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons): molecular cytogenetic dissection of the origin of MCR 1p+4 in the X1X2Y1Y2Y3 sex chromosome system

The black muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons, 2n = 8[female symbol]/9[male symbol]) is a critically endangered mammalian species that is confined to a narrow region of southeastern China. Male black muntjacs have an astonishing X1X2Y1Y2Y3 sex chromosome system, unparalleled in eutherian mammals, involving approximately half of the entire genome. A high-resolution comparative map between the black muntjac (M. crinifrons) and the Chinese muntjac (M. reevesi, 2n = 46) has been constructed based on the chromosomal localization of 304 clones from a genomic BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) library of the Indian muntjac (M. muntjak vaginalis, 2n = 6[female symbol]/7[male symbol]). In addition to validating the chromosomal homologies between M. reevesi and M. crinifrons defined previously by chromosome painting, the comparative BAC map demonstrates that all tandem fusions that have occurred in the karyotypic evolution of M. crinifrons are centromere-telomere fusions. The map also allows for a more detailed reconstruction of the chromosomal rearrangements leading to this unique and complex sex chromosome system. Furthermore, we have identified 46 BAC clones that could be used to study the molecular evolution of the unique sex chromosomes of the male black muntjacs.     

The effect of heterochromatin on synapsis of the sex chromosomes of Peromyscus (Rodentia, Cricetidae)

The pairing behavior of the sex chromosomes in male and female individuals representing seven species of Peromyscus was analyzed by electron microscopy of silver-stained zygotene and pachytene configurations. Six species possess submetacentric or metacentric X chromosomes with heterochromatic short arms. Sex-chromosome pairing in these species is initiated during early pachynema at an interstitial position on the X and Y axes. Homologous synapsis then progresses in a unidirectional fashion towards the telomeres of the X short arm and the corresponding arm of the heterochromatic Y chromosome. The distinctive pattern of synaptic initiation allowed a late-synapsing bivalent in fetal oocytes to be tentatively identified as that of the X chromosomes. In contrast to the other species, Peromyscus megalops possesses an acrocentric X chromosome and a very small Y chromosome. Sex-chromosome pairing in this species is initiated at the proximal telomeric region during late zygonema, and then proceeds interstitially towards the distal end of the Y chromosome. These observations suggest that the presence of X short-arm heterochromatin and corresponding Y heterochromatin interferes with late-zygotene alignment of the pairing initiation sites, thereby delaying XY synaptic initiation until early pachynema. The pairing initiation sites are conserved in the vicinity of the X and Y centromeres in Peromyscus, and consequently the addition of heterochromatin during sex-chromosome evolution essentially displaces these sites to an interstitial position.     

Synaptonemal complex of the sex-autosome trivalent in a male Indian muntjac

Bright-field microscopy of silver-stained pachytene spermatocytes of a male Indian muntjac, Muntiacus muntjak revealed that (a) the synapsis between the autosomal homologs, including the long arm of the X and Y₂, was normal, (b) the nucleolus organizer regions were present in both the No. 1 bivalent and the long arm of the X and Y₂, (c) the accessory structures of the X chromosome short arm in the forms of light and dark thickenings and the hairpin-like bend were present despite the X-autosome translocation, (d) a short synaptonemal complex was present between the Y₁ (real Y) and the short arm of the X chromosome, and (e) the centromeric orientation of the Y₁ and Y₂ chromosomes was in Cis configuration as opposed to the X chromosome.     

Comparative gene mapping in the species Muntiacus muntjac.

An extreme case of chromosomal evolution is presented by the two muntjac species Muntiacus muntjac (Indian muntjac, 2n = 6 [females], 7 [males]) and M. reevesi (Chinese muntjac, 2n = 46). Despite disparate karyotypes, these phenotypically similar species produce viable hybrid offspring, indicating a high degree of DNA-level conservation and genetic relatedness. As a first step toward development of a comparative gene map, several Indian muntjac homologs of known human type I anchor loci were mapped. Using flow-sorted, chromosome-specific Southern hybridization techniques, homologs of the protein kinase C beta polypeptide (PRKCB1) and the DNA repair genes ERCC2 and XRCC1 have been assigned to Indian muntjac chromosome 2. The male-specific ZFY gene was presumptively mapped to Indian muntjac chromosome Y2. Ultimate generation of a comparative physical map of both Indian and Chinese muntjac chromosomes will prove invaluable in the study of mammalian karyotype evolution.     

Structural organization of chromosomes of the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak)

The identification, morphology, and banding pattern of the chromosomes of the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) are described. A diagrammatic representation of the banding pattern as revealed by various techniques is presented following the nomenclature suggested by Paris Conference (1971) for human chromosomes. The Y2 chromosome and the neck of the X chromosome are late replicating based on observations made with the use of a bromodeoxuridine plus Giemsa technique. Most of the G-bands are early replicating, contrary to earlier findings based on autoradiography.     

Analysis of male meiotic "sex body" proteins during XY female meiosis provides new insights into their functions

During male meiosis in mammals the X and Y chromosomes become condensed to form the sex body (XY body), which is the morphological manifestation of the process of meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). An increasing number of sex body located proteins are being identified, but their functions in relation to MSCI are unclear. Here we demonstrate that assaying male sex body located proteins during XY female mouse meiosis, where MSCI does not take place, is one way in which to begin to discriminate between potential functions. We show that a newly identified protein, "Asynaptin" (ASY), detected in male meiosis exclusively in association with the X and Y chromatin of the sex body, is also expressed in pachytene oocytes of XY females where it coats the chromatin of the asynapsed X in the absence of MSCI. Furthermore, in pachytene oocytes of females carrying a reciprocal autosomal translocation, ASY associates with asynapsed autosomal chromatin. Thus the location of ASY to the sex body during male meiosis is likely to be a response to the asynapsis of the non-homologous regions [outside the pseudoautosomal region (PAR)] of the heteromorphic X-Y bivalent, rather than being related to MSCI. In contrast to ASY, the previously described sex body protein XY77 proved to be male sex body specific. Potential functions for MSCI and the sex body are discussed together with the possible roles of these two proteins.     

Evidence that meiotic sex chromosome inactivation is essential for male fertility

The mammalian X and Y chromosomes share little homology and are largely unsynapsed during normal meiosis. This asynapsis triggers inactivation of X- and Y-linked genes, or meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). Whether MSCI is essential for male meiosis is unclear. Pachytene arrest and apoptosis is observed in mouse mutants in which MSCI fails, e.g., Brca1(-/-), H2afx(-/-), Sycp1(-/-), and Msh5(-/-). However, these also harbor defects in synapsis and/or recombination and as such may activate a putative pachytene checkpoint. Here we present evidence that MSCI failure is sufficient to cause pachytene arrest. XYY males exhibit Y-Y synapsis and Y chromosomal escape from MSCI without accompanying synapsis/recombination defects. We find that XYY males, like synapsis/recombination mutants, display pachytene arrest and that this can be circumvented by preventing Y-Y synapsis and associated Y gene expression. Pachytene expression of individual Y genes inserted as transgenes on autosomes shows that expression of the Zfy 1/2 paralogs in XY males is sufficient to phenocopy the pachytene arrest phenotype; insertion of Zfy 1/2 on the X chromosome where they are subject to MSCI prevents this response. Our findings show that MSCI is essential for male meiosis and, as such, provide insight into the differential severity of meiotic mutations' effects on male and female meiosis.     

Evidence that the testis determination pathway interacts with a non-dosage compensated, X-linked gene.

In a number of mammals, including mouse and man, it has been shown that at equivalent gestational ages, males are developmentally more advanced than females, even before the gonads form. In mice, although some strains of Y chromosome exert a minor accelerating effect in pre-implantation development, it is a post-implantation effect of the difference in X chromosome constitution that is the major cause of the male/female developmental difference. Thus XX females are retarded in their development by about 1.5 h relative to X(M)O females or XY males; however, they are more advanced than X(P)O females by about 4 h. It has been suggested that this early developmental difference between XX and XY embryos may "weight the dice" in favour of ovarian and testicular development, respectively, although expression of Sry will normally overcome any such bias. Here we test this proposal by comparing the relative frequencies of female, hermaphrodite and male development in X(P)O, XX and X(M)O mice that carry an incompletely penetrant Sry transgene. The results show that testicular tissue develops more frequently in XX,Sry transgenics than in either of the two types of XO transgenics. Thus the incidence of testicular development is affected by X dosage rather than by the developmental hierarchy. This implies there is a non-dosage compensated gene (or genes) on the X chromosome, which interacts with the testis-determining pathway. Since the pseudoautosomal region (PAR) is known to escape X-inactivation, penetrance of the Sry transgene was also assessed in X(M)Y(*X) mice that have two doses of the PAR but have a single dose of all genes proximal to the distal X marker Amel. These mice showed similar levels of testicular development to X(M)O mice with the transgene; thus the non-dosage compensated X gene maps outside the PAR.