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An unusual dicentric Y chromosome with a functional centromere with no detectable alpha-satellite

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Abstract

We describe an unusual marker chromosome Y. This marker is present in 5% of the lymphocytes of a dysgenetic woman showing a mosaic karyotype 45,X/46,XY/ 47,XY+mar. Q-banding revealed that the marker was morphologically identical to the Y chromosome of the patient but presented the primary constriction in the heterochromatic region. C-banding confirmed that the heterochromatic region was C-positive; furthermore, it showed two spots in the euchromatic region in a position corresponding to that of the centromere in the normal Y Fluorescence in situ hybridization with the centromere-specific probe pDP 97 and the pancentromeric alpha-satellite probe α27α30 failed to detect any signal at the primary constriction site. To improve the characterization of the marker chromosome, hybridization was performed using pDP 105, a probe located on the short arm of the Y chromosome, together with chromosome-Y- specific paint-hybridizing to the single sequence spanning the Y short arm. In both cases, positive signals telomeric to the inactive centromere were observed. Possible mechanisms resulting in the formation of the marker chromosome are discussed.

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Bukvic, N., Susca, F., Gentile, M. et al. An unusual dicentric Y chromosome with a functional centromere with no detectable alpha-satellite. Hum Genet 97, 453–456 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02267065

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02267065

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