scholarly journals MATHEMATICS OF CHROMOSOME PAIRING

Genetics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-169
Author(s):  
C J Driscoll ◽  
G H Gordon ◽  
G Kimber

ABSTRACT Analysis of frequencies of chromosome configurations in wheat-related species hybrids is extended to include cases involving homoeologous groups of size six. Further, the expected frequencies of the various configurations emanating from homologous and homoeologous pairing events have been determined for groups consisting of two and three homoeologous pairs of homologous chromosomes. Analysis of configuration frequencies of nullisomic 5B of wheat, in which both homologous and homoeologous pairing occurs, led to estimation of the relative frequencies of homologous and homoeologous pairing events as 17.9: 1. In the samples analyzed, slightly less than one homoeologous exchange occurred per gamete.

1985 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 506-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taing Aung ◽  
G. M. Evans

The possibility of diploidizing meiosis in tetraploid hybrids of the two closely related Lolium species, L. multiflorum and L. perenne, was investigated using specific genotypes of both parents. Both these parental genotypes had previously been shown to reduce homoeologous pairing in a separate but wider cross with the inbreeder L. temulentum. A preponderance of bivalents was recorded at first metaphase of meiosis in several of the hybrid progeny with the frequency of multivalents being reduced to 0.6/pollen mother cell in one plant. Although it is not unambiguously established that the bivalents so formed are solely between homologous chromosomes, it is highly likely that this is so. It is concluded that it is feasible to genetically modify the pattern of meiosis even in tetraploid hybrids of species of similar karyotypes.Key words: chromosome pairing, Lolium, interspecific hybrid.


1976 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Avivi

Different genotypes of Triticum longissimum are known to either promote or suppress chromosome pairing in crosses with polyploid wheats. Lines that promote homoeologous pairing are here designated as intermediate pairing lines, while those which have no such effect or suppress pairing are known as low pairing lines. To determine a possible effect of these genotypes on homologous pairing, tetraploidy was induced in both lines and chromosomal pairing was studied at first metaphase of meiosis. While the two induced autotetraploids did not differ in chiasma frequency or in the number of paired chromosomal arms, they differed significantly in multivalent frequency; the intermediate-pairing autotetraploid exhibited the same multivalent frequency as that expected on the basis of two telomeric initiation sites, while the low pairing autotetraploid exhibited a significantly lower frequency. It is assumed that in the autotetraploid the low pairing genotype does not affect meiotic pairing per se, but modifies the pattern of homologous association in a similar manner to that known in polyploids and caused by diploidization genes. It is speculated that the tendency for bivalent pairing in the low pairing autotetraploid is due to spatial separation of the four homologous chromosomes in somatic and premeiotic cells into two groups of two.


Genome ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1173-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prem P Jauhar ◽  
M Doğramaci ◽  
T S Peterson

Wild grasses in the tribe Triticeae, some in the primary or secondary gene pool of wheat, are excellent reservoirs of genes for superior agronomic traits, including resistance to various diseases. Thus, the diploid wheatgrasses Thinopyrum bessarabicum (Savul. and Rayss) Á. Löve (2n = 2x = 14; JJ genome) and Lophopyrum elongatum (Host) Á. Löve (2n = 2x = 14; EE genome) are important sources of genes for disease resistance, e.g., Fusarium head blight resistance that may be transferred to wheat. By crossing fertile amphidiploids (2n = 4x = 28; JJEE) developed from F1 hybrids of the 2 diploid species with appropriate genetic stocks of durum wheat, we synthesized trigeneric hybrids (2n = 4x = 28; ABJE) incorporating both the J and E genomes of the grass species with the durum genomes A and B. Trigeneric hybrids with and without the homoeologous-pairing suppressor gene, Ph1, were produced. In the absence of Ph1, the chances of genetic recombination between chromosomes of the 2 useful grass genomes (JE) and those of the durum genomes (AB) would be enhanced. Meiotic chromosome pairing was studied using both conventional staining and fluorescent genomic in situ hybridization (fl-GISH). As expected, the Ph1-intergeneric hybrids showed low chromosome pairing (23.86% of the complement), whereas the trigenerics with ph1b (49.49%) and those with their chromosome 5B replaced by 5D (49.09%) showed much higher pairing. The absence of Ph1 allowed pairing and, hence, genetic recombination between homoeologous chromosomes. Fl-GISH analysis afforded an excellent tool for studying the specificity of chromosome pairing: wheat with grass, wheat with wheat, or grass with grass. In the trigeneric hybrids that lacked chromosome 5B, and hence lacked the Ph1 gene, the wheat–grass pairing was elevated, i.e., 2.6 chiasmata per cell, a welcome feature from the breeding standpoint. Using Langdon 5D(5B) disomic substitution for making trigeneric hybrids should promote homoeologous pairing between durum and grass chromosomes and hence accelerate alien gene transfer into the durum genomes.Key words: alien gene transfer, chiasma (xma) frequency, chromosome pairing, fluorescent genomic in situ hybridization (fl-GISH), homoeologous-pairing regulator, specificity of chromosome pairing, wheatgrass.


Meiotic chromosome pairing is a process that is amenable to genetic and experimental analysis. The combined use of these two approaches allows for the process to be dissected into several finite periods of time in which the developmental stages of pairing can be precisely located. Evidence is now available, in particular in plants, that shows that the pairing of homologous chromosomes, as observed at metaphase I, is affected by events occurring as early as the last premeiotic mitosis; and that the maintenance of this early determined state is subsequently maintained by constituents (presumably proteins) that are sensitive to either colchicine, temperature or gene control. A critical assessment of this evidence in wheat and a comparison of the process of pairing in wheat with the course of meiotic pairing in other plants and animals is presented.


1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
P B Moens ◽  
C Heyting ◽  
A J Dietrich ◽  
W van Raamsdonk ◽  
Q Chen

The axial cores of chromosomes in the meiotic prophase nuclei of most sexually reproducing organisms play a pivotal role in the arrangement of chromatin, in the synapsis of homologous chromosomes, in the process of genetic recombination, and in the disjunction of chromosomes. We report an immunogold analysis of the axial cores and the synaptonemal complexes (SC) using two mouse monoclonal antibodies raised against isolated rat SCs. In Western blots of purified SCs, antibody II52F10 recognizes a 30- and a 33-kD peptide (Heyting, C., P. B. Moens, W. van Raamsdonk, A. J. J. Dietrich, A. C. G. Vink, and E. J. W. Redeker, 1987, Eur. J. Cell Biol., 43: 148-154). In spreads of rat spermatocyte nuclei it produces gold grains over the cores of autosomal and sex chromosomes. The cores label lightly during the chromosome pairing stage (zygotene) of early meiotic prophase and they become more intensely labeled when they are parallel aligned as the lateral elements of the SC during pachytene (55 grains/micron SC). Statistical analysis of electronically recorded gold grain positions shows that the two means of the bimodal gold grain distribution coincide with the centers of the lateral elements. At diplotene, when the cores separate, the antigen is still detected along the length of the core and the enlarged ends are heavily labeled. Shadow-cast SC preparations show that recombination nodules are not labeled. The continued presence suggests that the antigens serve a continuing function in the cores, such as chromatin binding, and/or structural integrity. Antibody III15B8, which does not recognize the 30- and 33-kD peptides, produces gold grains predominantly between the lateral elements. The grain distribution is bimodal with the mean of each peak just inside the pairing face of the lateral element. The antigen is present where and while the cores of the homologous chromosomes are paired. From the location and the timing, it is assumed that the antigen recognized by III15B8 functions in chromosome pairing at meiotic prophase. The two anti-rat SC antibodies label rat and mouse SCs but not rabbit or dog SCs. A positive control using human CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, telangiectasia) anti-centromere serum gives equivalent labeling of SC centromeres in the rat, mouse, rabbit, and dog. It is concluded that the SC antigens recognized by II52F10 and III15B8 are not widely conserved. The two antibodies do not bind to cellular or nuclear components of somatic cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1982 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 715-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R. Sears

An X-ray-induced mutation in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), designated ph2, conditions an intermediate level of homoeologous chromosome pairing in hybrids with Triticum kotschyi var. variabilis. The number of chromosomes paired averaged 9.2 per sporocyte, compared with 2.0 in the control and 27.9 in the same hybrid involving ph1b, an apparent deficiency for Ph1 obtained in the same mutation experiment. The ph2 mutation is located on chromosome 3D and is believed to be a deficiency for a terminal segment of the short arm that includes the locus of Ph2, a minor suppressor of homoeologous pairing. Although no pairing of the ph2-carrying chromosome with telosome 3DS was observed, the mutation is clearly not a deficiency for the entire arm. It has little effect on pairing in wheat itself. Male transmission of the mutation is approximately normal, and fertility, while reduced, is sufficient for easy maintenance of the homozygous line.


A cytological study of the meiotic phenomena in Oenothera may not need an excuse in spite of the exhaustive studies of the genus made by numerous competent cytologists of this century. Up to the present time, all the investigators of Oenothera cytology have been successful in establishing that the basic ( n ) number of chromosomes in this genus is 7; although tetraploid (Gates, 1911), triploid (Cathcheside, 1931), and trisomic numbers might occur either naturally (by mutation) or could be produced by experiment. It is also known that the somatic number of chromosomes corresponds with the number of chromosome bodies in the diakinesis and metaphase of the heterotypic division.. Thus in diploid Oenothera species, hybrid, or mutant at the diakinesis of pollen mother cells 14 chromosomes have been shown to exist, withouth any doubt, in the configuration of a closed circle, in 7 ring pairs, or a mixtrue of free pairs and closed circles. Mathematically, there are 15 possible configurations in which 14 chromosomes can arrange themselves in the form of closed circle, ring pairs, or a combination of ring pairs and closed circles (Cleland and Blakeslee, 1931; Darlington, 1931). Of these 15 Possible configurations 13 have already been reported in various Oenothera species, hybrids and mutants (Darlington, 1931). Regarding the origin and significance of these chromosome configurations invsestigators have not yet reached an agreed opinion. Apart from the genetical significance, the much disputed cytological question of parasynaptic and telosynaptic methods of chromosome pairing is yet far from a final solution. In oenothera both the methods of pairing have strong sup-porters in consideration of observed cytological facts. The fact are (i) the continuous spireme (in leptotene stage); (ii) the pachynema and the diakinesis consisting of the 14 chromosomes arranged end to end. This arragement, known as catenation of chromosomes, favours the telosynaptic rather than the parasynaptic union. Wheras (i) double threads at the prophase, (ii) the looping of the threads, and (iii) the half number of bodies (7 ring pairs) at the diakinesis support the parasynaptic method of pairing of chromosomes. The occurence of a complete catenation of 14 chromosomes in some Oenotheras and the presence of 7 free pairs in others naturally suggests the question-whether they can be correlated with the two methods of chromosome-pairing in the meiosis of Oenothera .


1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Thomas ◽  
P. J. Kaltsikes

Beginning at 120 hours prior to first metaphase of meiosis (MI) a 0.03% aqueous solution of colchicine was injected into the boot of pentaploid (hexaploid triticale × tetraploid wheat) hybrids developing at 20 °C ± 1° under continuous illumination. Colchicine applied 40 h or less prior to MI had no effect on chromosome pairing, while its application 40 h or more prior to MI induced a steady decline, culminating in a 40% reduction in chromosome pairing at about 80 h from MI. Between 48 and 35 h before MI (late premeiotic interphase to early zygotene) meiocytes underwent a period of active nucleolar fusion. The time, therefore, at which the colchicine sensitive aspects of chromosome pairing were completed coincided with the completion of nucleolar fusion. From comparison with other findings it was concluded that there is a colchicine sensitive bouquet stage which appears in leptotene and early zygotene; this bouquet is responsible for active nucleolar fusion and final close association between homologous chromosomes.


Genome ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Rines ◽  
S. S. Johnson

Three meiotic synapsis-deficient mutants of oats (Avena sativa L.) were analyzed to determine their inheritance pattern, detailed chromosomal behavior, and location to chromosome. These highly sterile mutants, one in the cultivar 'Stout' and two in 'Noble', had been recovered from progeny of sodium azide mutagenized populations. Each segregated as a single gene recessive. The only synapsis-deficient variants previously described in hexaploid oats have been nullisomics or ditelosomics. Mutant 'Stout 1212' was classified as asynaptic due to deficiencies in chromosome pairing at all meiotic stages. Mutants 'Noble 1362' and 'Noble 1911' were classified as desynaptic since their homologous chromosomes were paired in early meiosis but they disassociated prematurely in late prophase I. Using a partial monosomic series from the Welsh Plant Breeding Station, mutant 1212 was mapped to monosome XII and is probably a mutation in Syn-5, a gene previously defined only by its nulli effect. Mutants 1362 and 1911 were mapped to monosome IV and are probably mutations in Syn-1, a gene also previously defined only by its nulli effect. Seed set on the synaptic mutant plants in the field was less than 0.2% of that on fertile sibs and likely resulted from pollination by surrounding fertile plants. This seed may serve as a source of unique aneuploid stocks in oats.Key words: meiotic mutants, gene mapping, monosomics, nullisomics, oat cytogenetics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document