Abstract
Asynchronous DNA replication of euchromatic (E) and heterochromatic (H) chromosomes and heterochromatic B chromosomes (B) were studied in the mealybug, Pseudococcus obscurus Essig (Homoptera: Coccoidea). The study was carried out on mycetocytes of adult females and on spermatocytes of mid-second instar males by employing tritiated thymidine labeling and autoradiography. In the mycetocytes the incorporation of the labeled thymidine began and ended later in the B's than in the E chromosomes. The S period was found to be about 21 hours. The DNA replication of the E chromosomes occupied about 86% of the S period and that of the B's 33%; during 18% of the mid-S period the replication of the two types of chromosomes overlapped. In the meiotic S period of the spermatocytes, the DNA of the E chromosomes started to replicate earlier than that of the H chromosomes and the B's, but the replication of the E chromosomes, the H chromosomes, and the B's overlapped. The H chromosomes completed their replication much later than the E chromosomes and slightly later than the B's.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abraham, S., Ames, I. H., Smith, H. H.: Autoradiographic studies of DNA synthesis in the B chromosomes of Crepis capillaris. J. Hered. 59, 297–299 (1968).
—, Smith, H. H.: DNA synthesis in the B chromosomes of maize. J. Hered. 57, 78–80 (1966).
Baer, D.: Asynchronous replication of DNA in a heterochromatic set of chromosomes in Pseudococcus obscurus. Genetics 52, 275–285 (1965).
Brown, S. W.: Heterochromatin. Science 151, 417–425 (1966).
—, Nelson-Rees, W. A.: Radiation analysis of a lecanoid genetic system. Genetics 46, 983–1007 (1961).
Corey, M. J., Boyes, J. W., Yerganian, G.: Variation in relative lengths of early and late-replicating portions of X chromosomes of the Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus). Cytogenetics 6, 314–320 (1967).
Darlington, C. D., Haque, A.: Organization of DNA synthesis in rye chromosomes. In: Chromosome today (C. D. Darlington and K. R. Lewis, eds.). vol. 1, p. 102–107. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd 1966.
Dewey, W. C., Hemphrey, R. H.: Relative radiosensitivity of different phases in the life cycle of L-P59 mouse fibroblasts and ascites tumor cells. Radiat. Res. 16, 503–530 (1962).
Hamilton, A. I.: Cell population kinetics: A modified interpretation of the graph of labeled mitoses. Science 164, 952–954 (1969).
Hughes-Schrader, S.: The chromosomes cycle of Phenacoccus (Coccidae). Biol. Bull. 69, 462–468 (1935).
—: Cytology of coccids (Coccoidea-Homoptera). Advanc. Genet. 2, 127–203 (1948).
Lima-de-Faria, A., Jaworska, H.: Late DNA synthesis in heterochromatin. Nature (Lond.) 217, 138–142 (1968).
Nur, U.: A supernumerary chromosome with an accumulation mechanism in the lecanoid genetic system. Chromosoma (Berl.) 13, 249–271 (1962).
Schrader, F.: The chromosomes of Pseudococcus nipae. Biol. Bull. 40, 259–271 (1921).
Taylor, J. H.: Asynchronous duplication of chromosomes in cultured cells of Chinese hamster. J. biophys. biochem. Cytol. 7, 455–463 (1960).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by grants GB 1585 and GB 6745 to Dr. Uzi Nur from the National Science Foundation, Washington, D. C.
Part of a thesis submitted to the University of Rochester in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, CC. Replication of euchromatin and heterochromatin in a mealybug. Chromosoma 34, 230–242 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285188
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285188