When DNA from blood or liver of Plethodon c. cinereus is centrifuged to equilibrium in cesium chloride it separates out into 2 components. The smaller or satellite component is relatively rich in G + C and is therefore heavy, and it amounts to about 2% of the total DNA. The heavy satellite does not include the ribosomal cistrons, and it is unrelated to the nucleolar organizer. When squash preparations of cells from the testis of P. c. cinereus are incubated in synthetic E3RNA complementary to the satellite DNA, the RNA anneals specifically to the centromeric heterochromatin of spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and spermatids, and to the centromeric regions of all discernible chromosomes. RNA/DNA hybrids were located by autoradiography. H3RNA complementary to the major component of the DNA anneals to all nuclei and to all parts of the chromosomes. H3RNA complementary to nucleolar DNA from Xenopus laevis anneals specifically to the chromatin associated with nucleoli in nuclei at various stages of the meiotic divisions. The nature of the centromeric heterochromatin and its role in the meiotic divisions are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this article Subscribe and saveSpringer+ Basic
€34.99 /Month
Price includes VAT (Germany)
Instant access to the full article PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others Explore related subjectsDiscover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning. ReferencesBrown, D. D., Gurdon, J. B.: Absence of ribosomal RNA synthesis in the anucleolate mutant of Xenopus laevis. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 51, 138–146 (1964).
Callan, H. G., Lloyd, L.: Lampbrush chromosomes of crested newts Triturus cristatus (Laurenti). Phil. Trans. B 243, 135–219 (1960).
Eckhardt, R. A.: Studies on the chromosomal distribution of repetitive nucleotide sequences in polytene chromosomes. J. Cell Biol. 47, 55a (1970).
— Gall, J. G.: Satellite DNA associated with heterochromatin in Rhynchosciara. Chromosoma (Berl.) 32, 407–427 (1971).
Gall, J. G.: The genes for ribosomal RNA during oogenesis. Genetics, Suppl. 61, 121–132 (1969).
Gall, J. G., Maogregor, H. C., Kidston, M. E.: Gene amplification in oocytes of dytiscid water beetles. Chromosoma (Berl.) 26, 169–187 (1969).
— Pardue, M. L.: Formation and detection of RNA-DNA hybrid molecules in cytological preparations. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 63, 378–383 (1969).
— Nucleic acid hybridization in cytological preparations, chapt. 38 in: Methods in enzymology, vol. 21 (L. Grossman and K. Moldave, eds.). New York: Academic Press 1971.
Gibson, I., Hewitt, G.: Isolation of DNA from B chromosomes in grasshoppers. Nature (Lond.) 225, 67–68 (1970).
Gillespie, D., Spiegelman, S.: A quantitative assay for DNA-RNA hybrids with DNA immobilized on a membrane. J. molec. Biol. 12, 829–842 (1965).
Hennig, W., Walker, P. M. B.: Variations in the DNA from two rodent families (Cricetidae and Muridae). Nature (Lond.) 225, 915–919 (1970).
Jones, K. W.: Chromosomal and nuclear location of mouse satellite DNA in individual cells. Nature (Lond.) 225, 912–915 (1970).
Kezer, J., Macgregor, H. C.: A fresh look at meiosis and centromeric heterochromatin in the red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus cinereus (Green). Chromosoma (Berl.) 33, 146–166 (1971).
Kit, S.: Equilibrium sedimentation in density gradients of DNA preparations from animal tissues. J. molec. Biol. 3, 711–716 (1961).
Macgregor, H. C.: The role of lampbrush chromosomes in the formation of nucleoli in amphibian oocytes. Quart. J. micr. Sci. 106, 215–228 (1965).
Maio, J. J., Schildkraut, C. L.: Isolated mammalian metaphase chromosomes. I. General characteristics of nucleic acids and proteins. J. molec. Biol. 24, 29–39 (1967).
Pardue, M. L., Gall, J. G.: Chromosomal localization of mouse satellite DNA. Science 168, 1356–1358 (1970).
— Gerbi, S. A., Eckhardt, R. A., Gall, J. G.: Cytological localization of DNA complementary to ribosomal RNA in polytene chromosomes of Diptera. Chromosoma (Berl.) 29, 268–290 (1970).
Schildkraut, C. L., Marmur, J., Doty, P.: Determination of the base composition of deoxyribonucleic acid from its buoyant density in cesium chloride. J. molec. Biol. 4, 430–443 (1962).
Skinner, D. M., Beattie, W. G., Kerr, M. S.: Satellite DNAs in Crustacea: Two different components with the same density in Neutral CsCl gradients. Nature (Lond.) 227, 837–839 (1970).
Wallace, H., Birnstiel, M. L.: Ribosomal cistrons and the nuclear organizer. Biochim. biophys. Acta (Amst.) 114, 296–310 (1966).
Waring, M., Britten, R. J.: Nucleotide sequence repetition: a rapidly reassociating fraction of mouse DNA. Science 154, 791–794 (1966).
School of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, England
H. C. Macgregor & James Kezer
Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
H. C. Macgregor & James Kezer
Macgregor, H.C., Kezer, J. The chromosomal localization of a heavy satellite DNA in the testis of Plethodon c. cinereus . Chromosoma 33, 167–182 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285631
Received: 17 December 1970
Accepted: 04 January 1971
Issue Date: June 1971
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285631
RetroSearch is an open source project built by @garambo | Open a GitHub Issue
Search and Browse the WWW like it's 1997 | Search results from DuckDuckGo
HTML:
3.2
| Encoding:
UTF-8
| Version:
0.7.4