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Nonrandom Chromosomal Distribution of Spontaneous Breakpoints and Satellite DNA Clusters in two Geographically Distant Populations of Chironomus Riparius (Diptera: Chironomidae)

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Abstract

Two geographically distant populations of Chironomus riparius (syn. C. thummi) from two environmentally polluted sites (Santena, Italy and Varna, Bulgaria) show numerous somatic and inherited chromosomal aberrations (inversions, deletions and deficiencies). Fifty-five percent of the observed breakpoints occurred in at least two larvae from both populations. Breakpoints occurring twice or more were considered as ‘common’ structural chromosomal breakpoints. We tested whether such common breakpoints in larvae of the two polluted populations had a random chromosomal distribution or occurred preferentially in specific heterochromatic regions. Distribution of common breakpoints was not random, and proximal regions of first and third chromosome had significantly more common breakpoints than distal ones. By FISH we identified and mapped 56 chromosomal sections containing clusters of two tandem-repetitive satellite DNA families called Hinf and Alu elements. Like the common breakpoints, these repetitive DNA clusters appeared to be significantly more abundant in regions of constitutive heterochromatin such as the pericentromeric regions, while in distal sections of chromosomal arms they were rare or absent. Twenty-four out of 45 common breakpoints (i.e., 53.3%) occurred in cytogenetic sections where Alu and Hinf satellite DNA probes hybridized. The frequency of co-localization between common breakpoints and repetitive DNA hybridization signals was significantly higher than expected by chance. We hypothesize that spontaneous or induced breaks occur more frequently in sections containing blocks of repetitive DNA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 17, 10123, Turin, Italy

    Stefano Bovero & Gabriella Sella

  2. Institute of Molecular Genetics, Biosafety Research and Consulting, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Thomas Hankeln & Erwin Schmidt

  3. Institute of Zoology, Academy of Sciences of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Paraskeva Michailova

Authors
  1. Stefano Bovero
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  2. Thomas Hankeln
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  3. Paraskeva Michailova
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  4. Erwin Schmidt
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  5. Gabriella Sella
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Bovero, S., Hankeln, T., Michailova, P. et al. Nonrandom Chromosomal Distribution of Spontaneous Breakpoints and Satellite DNA Clusters in two Geographically Distant Populations of Chironomus Riparius (Diptera: Chironomidae). Genetica 115, 273–281 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020697228525

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