Conservation of chromosome arrangement and position of the X in mammalian sperm suggests functional significance

Date

2003

Authors

Greaves, Ian
Rens, Willem
Ferguson-Smith, Malcolm A
Griffin, Darren
Graves, Jennifer

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Kluwer Academic Publishers

Abstract

We used chromosome painting to show directly that chromosomes occupy fixed positions in the nuclei of mammal but not chicken sperm. We found that the positions of homologous chromosomes are conserved in sperm of two marsupial species that diverged 50-60 million years ago. We also discovered that the X chromosome lies in the region that makes first contact with the egg in marsupial and monotreme mammals, as well as eutherians, and suggest that this position may be related to its propensity for inactivation, and its high rate of loss from ICSI embryos. We propose that nuclear architecture in sperm is important for spatial chromatin differentiation and normal development of the fertilized egg, and evolved along with mammal-specific regulatory systems such as X inactivation and genomic imprinting.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: animal cell; article; chicken; chromosome painting; confocal microscopy; cytoarchitecture; embryo development; genetic conservation; genetic organization; genome imprinting; in situ hybridization; interphase; karyotype; marsupial; nonhuman; priority journ Chicken; Chromatin; Chromosome painting; Eutheria; Imprinting; Marsupial; Sperm; X-inactivation

Citation

Source

Chromosome Research

Type

Journal article

Book Title

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