Abstract
Pairing between two nonhomologous chromosomes, one a free X-duplication and the other a free fourth chromosome, has been observed cytologically with high frequencies in the oögonial cells of Drosophila melanogaster. The frequencies of nonhomologous pairing ranged from 27 to 47% and showed a positive correlation with the similarity in size between the two participating nonhomologues. Partial homology increased pairing frequency between nonhomologues in the oögonial cell, in contrast to the behavior of the same nonhomologues at distributive pairing in the oöcyte, where pairing is strictly size-dependent. Pairing between homologues in the same oögonial cells occurred at a frequency of only 71% and was higher for the autosomes (73%) than for the sex chromosomes (66%). An increased frequency of homologous pairing was found for older gonial cysts (4-cell, 72.0% ; 8-cell, 76.1%) as compared with younger cysts (1-cell, 59.1% ; 2-cell, 53.1%).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boss, J. M. N.: Mitosis in cultures of newt tissues. II. Chromosome-pairing in anaphase. Exp. Cell Res. 7, 225–231 (1954).
Brosseau, G. E., Jr.: Somatic pairing in structural heterozygotes. Drosoph. Inf. Serv. 40, 71 (1965).
Catcheside, D. G.: The chromosomes of a new haploid Oenothera. Cytologia (Tokyo) 4, 68–113 (1932).
Darlington, C. D.: Chromosome behaviour and structural hybridity in the Tradescantiae. J. Genet. 21, 207–286 (1929).
Gates, R. R.: The behavior of chromosomes in Oenothera lata X gigas. Bot. Gaz. 48, 179–199 (1909).
Grell, R. F.: Nonrandom assortment of nonhomologous chromosomes, Genetics 42, 374 (1957).
—: Nonrandom assortment of nonhomologous chromosomes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 44, 421–435 (1959).
—: A new hypothesis on the nature and sequence of meiotic events in the female of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 48, 165–172 (1962).
—: Chromosome size at distributive pairing in Drosophila melanogaster females. Genetics 50, 150–166 (1964a).
—: Distributive pairing: the size-dependent mechanism for regular segregation of the fourth chromosomes in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 52, 226–232 (1964b).
—: Pairing at the chromosomal level. J. cell. Physiol. 70, Suppl.1, 119–145 (1967).
—: Grell, E.H.: The behavior of nonhomologous chromosomal elements involved in nonrandom assortment in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 46, 51–57 (1960).
Hiraoka, T.: Somatic syndesis in Daphne, odora. I. The chromosome behaviour in mitosis. Proc. Jap. Acad. 34, 700–705 (1958).
Hu, C. H.: Karyological studies in haploid rice plants. IV. Chromosome morphology and intragenome pairing in haploid plants of Oryza glaberrima as compared with those in O. sativa. Cytologia (Tokyo) 25, 437–449 (1960).
King, E.: Chromosome behavior in triploid Tradescantia. J. Hered. 24, 253–256 (1933).
Kitani, Y.: Orientation, arrangement and association of somatic chromosomes. Jap. J. Genet. 38, 244–256 (1963).
Levan, A.: Studies on the meiotic mechanism of haploid rye. Hereditas (Lund) 28, 177–211 (1942).
Lindsley, D. L., Grell, E. H.: Genetic Variations of Drosophila melanogaster, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Publ. No 627. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institute 1968.
Longley, A. E.: Cytological studies in the genus Rubus. Amer. J. Bot. 11, 249–282 (1924).
—: Triploid citrus. J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 16, 543–545 (1926).
McClintock, B.: The association of non-homologous parts of chromosomes in the mid-prophase of meiosis in Zea mays. Z. Zellforsch. 19, 191–237 (1933).
Metz, C. W.: Chromosome studies in the Diptera. II. The paired association of chromosomes in the Diptera and its significance. J. exp. Zool. 21, 213–280 (1916).
Oksala, T. A.: Chromosome pairing, crossing over, and segregation in meiosis in Drosophila melanogaster females. Cold Spr. Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 23, 197–210 (1958).
Richharia, R. H.: Cytological investigation of Raphanus sativus, Brassica oleracea, and their F1 and F2 hybrids. J. Genet. 34, 19–44 (1937).
Rieger, R.: Inhomologenpaarung und Meioseablauf bei haploiden Formen von Antirrhinum majus L. Chromosoma (Berl.) 9, 1–38 (1957).
Schrader, F.: Heteropycnosis and non-homologous association of chromosomes in Edessa irrorata (Hemiptera, Heteroptera). J. Morph. 69, 587–604 (1941).
Slack, H. D.: The association of non-homologous chromosomes in Corixidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera). Proc. roy. Soc. Edinb. 58, 192–212 (1938).
Snope, A. J.: Cytogenetic studies with abnormal chromosome 10 in autotetraploid and haploid maize. Doctoral thesis, 1966.
Stevens, N. M.: A study of the germ cells of certain Diptera, with reference to the heterochromosomes and the phenomena of synapsis. J. exp. Zool. 5, 359–374 (1908).
Tabata, M.: Chromosome pairing in intercrosses between stocks of interchanges involving the same two chromosomes in maize. II. Pachytene configuration in relation to breakage positions. Cytologia (Tokyo) 28, 278–292 (1963).
Tsuchiya, T.: Haploid plants in barley. C.I.S. (Tokyo) 3, 14–15 (1962).
Walters, M. S.: A study of pseudobivalents in meiosis of two interspecific hybrids of Bromus. Amer. J. Bot. 41, 160–171 (1954).
White, M. J. D., Morley, F. H. W.: Effects of pericentric rearrangements on recombination in grasshopper chromosomes. Genetics 40, 604–619 (1955).
Yarnell, S. H.: Meiosis in a triploid Fragaria. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 15, 843–844 (1929).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Research sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission under contract with the Union Carbide Corporation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grell, R.F., Day, J.W. Chromosome pairing in the oögonial cells of Drosophila melanogaster . Chromosoma 31, 434–445 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285834
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285834