Chromosome

About: Chromosome is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 17538 publications have been published within this topic receiving 660077 citations. The topic is also known as: chromosomes & GO:0005694.

Genetic mapping of sex determination in a wild strawberry, Fragaria virginiana, reveals earliest form of sex chromosome.

Abstract: The evolution of separate sexes (dioecy) from hermaphroditism is one of the major evolutionary transitions in plants, and this transition can be accompanied by the development of sex chromosomes. Studies in species with intermediate sexual systems are providing unprecedented insight into the initial stages of sex chromosome evolution. Here, we describe the genetic mechanism of sex determination in the octoploid, subdioecious wild strawberry, Fragaria virginiana Mill., based on a whole-genome simple sequence repeat (SSR)-based genetic map and on mapping sex determination as two qualitative traits, male and female function. The resultant total map length is 2373 cM and includes 212 markers on 42 linkage groups (mean marker spacing: 14 cM). We estimated that approximately 70 and 90% of the total F. virginiana genetic map resides within 10 and 20 cM of a marker on this map, respectively. Both sex expression traits mapped to the same linkage group, separated by approximately 6 cM, along with two SSR markers. Together, our phenotypic and genetic mapping results support a model of gender determination in subdioecious F. virginiana with at least two linked loci (or gene regions) with major effects. Reconstruction of parental genotypes at these loci reveals that both female and hermaphrodite heterogamety exist in this species. Evidence of recombination between the sex-determining loci, an important hallmark of incipient sex chromosomes, suggest that F. virginiana is an example of the youngest sex chromosome in plants and thus a novel model system for the study of sex chromosome evolution.

Spectral karyotyping suggests additional subsets of colorectal cancers characterized by pattern of chromosome rearrangement

Abstract: The abundant chromosome abnormalities in most carcinomas are probably a reflection of genomic instability present in the tumor, so the pattern and variability of chromosome abnormalities will reflect the mechanism of instability combined with the effects of selection. Chromosome rearrangement was investigated in 17 colorectal carcinoma-derived cell lines. Comparative genomic hybridization showed that the chromosome changes were representative of those found in primary tumors. Spectral karyotyping (SKY) showed that translocations were very varied and mostly unbalanced, with no translocation occurring in more than three lines. At least three karyotype patterns could be distinguished. Some lines had few chromosome abnormalities: they all showed microsatellite instability, the replication error (RER)+ phenotype. Most lines had many chromosome abnormalities: at least seven showed a surprisingly consistent pattern, characterized by multiple unbalanced translocations and intermetaphase variation, with chromosome numbers around triploid, 6-16 structural aberrations, and similarities in gains and losses. Almost all of these were RER-, but one, LS411, was RER+. The line HCA7 showed a novel pattern, suggesting a third kind of genomic instability: multiple reciprocal translocations, with little numerical change or variability. This line was also RER+. The coexistence in one tumor of two kinds of genomic instability is to be expected if the underlying defects are selected for in tumor evolution.

Isolation and characterization of wheat-rye recombinants involving chromosome arm 1DS of wheat.

Abstract: The introgression of genetic material from alien species is assuming increased importance in wheat breeding programs. One example is the translocation of the short arm of rye chromosome 1 (1RS) onto homoeologous wheat chromosomes, which confers disease resistance and increased yield on wheat. However, this translocation is also associated with dough quality defects. To break the linkage between the desirable agronomic traits and poor dough quality, recombination has been induced between 1RS and the homoeologous wheat arm IDS. Seven new recombinants were isolated, with five being similar to those reported earlier and two havina new type of structure. All available recombinantsw ere characterized with DNA probes for the loci Nor-R1, 5SDna-R1, and Tel-R1. Also, the amount of rye chromatin present was quantified with a dispersed rye-specific repetitive DNA sequence in quantitative dot blots. Furthermore, the wheat-rye recombinants were used as a mapping tool to assign two RFLP markers to specific regions on chromosome arms 1DS and 1RS of wheat and rye, respectively.

The incorporation of alien disease resistance in wheat by genetic interference with the regulation of meiotic chromosome synapsis

Abstract: 1. Triticum aestivum ssp. vulgare variety Chinese Spring (2n = 6x = 42) is susceptible to yellow rust caused by Puccinia striiformis while the wild annual grass Aegilops comosa (2n = 14) is resistant to all the physiologic races for which it has been tested.2. By a backcrossing programme initiated from Chinese Spring × Ae. comosa hybrids, using Chinese Spring as the recurrent parent, a line was isolated with a single chromosome of Ae. comosa, determining rust resistance, added to the full complement of Chinese Spring.3. The alien chromosome substituted with good genetic compensation only for the chromosomes of homoeologous group 2 of Chinese Spring. This demonstrated that the chromosome determining rust resistance is in homoeologous group 2. It was designated 2M since Ae. comosa has the M genome.4. In order to induce recombination between 2M and its wheat homoeologues, hybrids were made using Ae. speltoides which has the capacity to suppress the activity of chromosome 5B that normally prevents homoeologous synapsis. A backcrossing programme, using Chinese Spring as the recurrent parent, was reinitiated from the 29-chromosome hybrids carrying chromosome 2M and the haploid complements of Chinese Spring and Ae. speltoides.5. Selection was practised for rust resistance and ultimately a resistant plant with 42 chromosomes, that formed 21 bivalents at meiosis, was isolated. This plant was heterozygous for a dominant rust resistance allele (Yr8) derived from Ae. comosa. Homozygotes were isolated in its progeny and in this way the rust resistant breeder's variety, Compair, was established.6. Compair differs from Chinese Spring in its yellow rust resistance which was shown to be determined by a chromosome corresponding to 2D of Chinese Spring. This chromosome of Compair has the short arm, the centromere and a proximal segment of the long arm of chromosome 2M and a distal segment of the right arm of chromosome 2D. The modified chromosome, which is designated 2M/D, arose by homoeologous recombination in the Ae. speltoides hybrid or in the immediately succeeding backcross generations. Chromosome 2M/D carries the Yr8 gene in the proximal segment of the long arm derived from chromosome 2M.7. In hybrids between Compair and standard wheat varieties, chromosome 2M/D pairs regularly with chromosome 2D so that regular segregation of Yr8 can be expected and Compair treated like any other parental variety in wheat hybridization programmes.8. This work illustrates the way that homoeologous recombination can be induced and exploited both in cytogenetic analysis in wheat and in practical breeding work. The nature of the meiotic synapsis of chromosome 2M/D with its partial homologues raises questions concerning the means by which chromosome 5B influences the specificity of meiotic synapsis.