Abstract
A minichromosome has originated from the transposing elementTE1. This autonomously replicating chromosome contains the structural genes white and roughest, from theDrosophila X chromosome. It arose within a stock carryingTE1 at 45F on chromosome2. In addition to thew andrst genes, the minichromosome may carry section 45C–45F from chromosome2. It is inherited by 33%–47% of the offspring. By this criterion it carries a centromere, although the origin of the centromere is unknown. From this minichromosome a still smaller one has originated, probably through the loss of all material from chromosome2 together with some heterochromatin. At the same time a duplication of white and roughest could have taken place. This chromosome has a strange morphology and is more frequently lost in meiosis than the larger one, but is still transmitted to about 29%–37% of the progeny of one parent heterozygous for the minichromosome. In both cases the flies have variegated eyes, probably as a result of position-effect variegation. The variegation pattern is influenced by factors in theX chromosome. The size of the smaller minichromosome is little more than 1 Mb as determined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis.
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Block, K., Ising, G. & Ståhl, F. Minichromosomes inDrosophila melanogaster derived from the transposing elementTE1 . Chromosoma 99, 336–343 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01731721
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01731721