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Ultrastructural analysis of sex determination in Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum

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Abstract

At metaphase of the first spermatocyte meiotic division in Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum the polymorphic bivalents are arranged at the equatorial plate peripheral to a central aggregate mass. The aggregate mass segregates to only one of the two daughter cells and thus behaves as a sex chromosome. The mass is comprised of two components: a granular chromatin that can be differentiated from the autosomes at metaphase I, and a condensed chromatin that has a similar morphology to the autosomes but is functionally differentiated at anaphase I. The condensed chromatin may be autosomes that have fused with the sex chromsomes and may be responsible for the segregation of the whole aggregate at anaphase I. Analysis of the origin of the mass is discussed and microtubular association in the movement of the mass is described.

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Goldstein, P. Ultrastructural analysis of sex determination in Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum . Chromosoma 66, 59–69 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285816

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285816

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