Abstract
Chromosome structure and pairing behaviour of the pachytene bivalents in the wildtype and in W chromosome mutants were studied using a microcentrifugation technique. The spread bivalents display a characteristic lampbrush structure with lateral loops having the typical appearance of nucleosomal fibers, in autosomes as well as in the W and Z chromosomes. While the autosomal loops are always completely dispersed by the spreading forces, the loops of the heterochromatic W chromosome frequently are found to be condensed in tangles. These tangles contain supranucleosomal globular particles of a diameter of 37.7±1.2 nm. — Pairing of the WZ can be complete or partial, probably depending on the stage of the pachytene. Incomplete pairing normally is interpreted as demonstrating non-homology. Pairing was weak, however, even between homologous segments of the W chromosome, which were introduced into the genome in homozygous form by a translocation chromosome.
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Weith, A., Traut, W. Synaptonemal complexes with associated chromatin in a moth, Ephestia kuehniella Z.. Chromosoma 78, 275–291 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327388
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327388