Abstract
We used bromosubstitution to investigate the mode of replication of different types of heterochromatin located in the sex chromosomes ofMicrotus cabrerae. Our results clearly show that, although the heterochromatin is late replicating, the replication timing of different types of constitutive heterochromatin is related to their banding properties: R-type heterochromatin replicates before G-type heterochromatin, and this replication is asynchronous in both sex chromosomes. Furthermore, the late replication behaviour of the inactive X may spread to its constitutive heterochromatin. In some cells, a region of the constitutive heterochromatin of the late replicating X spontaneously switches to early replication, which may be related to transcriptional activity. Replication behaviour of the constitutive heterochromatin in the Y chromosome is similar to that of the late replicating X.
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This study was supported by the Spanish DGICYT through Project PB87-0870, the Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Group No. 3122, and a grant to A. Sánchez from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. We would like to thank Dr K. Sperling, Dr H. Neitzel, Ms V. Kalscheuer and Ms B. Schuman-Rogge for introducing one of us to some of the techniques employed in this work and Ms Karen Shashok for revising the English.
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Burgos, M., Jiménez, R., Sánchez, A. et al. Replication of the heterogeneous heterochromatin of the sex chromosomes of Microtus cabrerae. Experientia 48, 1151–1153 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01948012
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01948012