Summary
The karyotypes of females and males ofSphaerocarpos donnellii differ in that there is a large essentially heterochromatic X chromosome in the female (approx. 25 volume-% of the autosomes) and a small Y chromosome in the male (0.1–3 volume-% of the autosomes). DNA from females and males differ in buoyant densities in cesium chloride equilibrium gradients (1.7025 and 1.7035g cm-3, respectively) and in melting points (87.5 and 88.5°C in SSC). The differences are statistically significant. Base analyses revealed 2.5 Mol-% of the rare base 5-methyl cytosine. Upon reassociationSphaerocarpos DNA behaves kinetically in a heterogeneous manner. About 22% of the DNA is repetitive with an average kinetic complexity of 1.6×108 daltons. The kinetic complexity of the slow reassociating DNA fraction, considered to be of the single copy type, is 3.2×1010 daltons. No difference in the renaturation behavior between DNA of males and females could be detected with the techniques used. Our data thus indicate that X chromosomal DNA cannot contain large amounts of highly repeated nucleotide sequences and that it is slightly enriched in AT content compared to the autosomes.
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Meyer, Y., Herrmann, R.G. Analysis of DNA of male and femaleSphaerocarpos donnellii Aust. (Liverwort). Molec. Gen. Genet. 124, 167–176 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00265149
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00265149