Abstract
The ZW bivalent has been identified and characterized in detail in its lampbrush form in oocytes of chicken, quail, turkey, pigeon, chaffinch and sparrow. The sex bivalent in all six species looks like a single highly asymmetrical chromosome. Most of it has the typical lampbrush organization. The terminal one-fifth is relatively thick and condensed and bears only a few pairs of lateral loops: this condensed terminal region is the W chromosome; the part with normal lampbrush morphology is the Z. The two are connected by a single near terminal chiasma. The fine scale morphology and arrangement of loops and markers on Z and W chromosomes are described for each species and lampbrush maps have been constructed. The identification of the lampbrush sex bivalent is based on the following criteria. The asymmetrical chromosome has two centromere regions. In the interstitial region of the asymmetrical chromosome where the junction between Z and W chromosomes is supposed to be, there are telomere-specific loops and telomeric DNA sequences and there is good morphological evidence for the presence of a chiasma. There are W chromosome specific DNA sequences in the region of the asymmetrical lampbrush chromosome that is thought to represent the W. Breed-specific variations in the morphology of the chicken W chromosome with respect to the sizes, numbers and arrangements of axial chromomeres and distributions of specified repeated DNA sequence families have been identified, offering one of the first examples of definitive correlation between a repeat family and a single chromomere. The lampbrush chromosomes of all the birds examined, except quail, terminate in distinctive free hanging loops. These are a novel feature in the sense that at the end of each chromatid there is a large transcription unit terminating in a cluster of telomeric DNA sequences.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Auer H, Mayr B, Lambron M, Schleger W (1987) An extended chicken karyotype, including the NOR chromosome.Cytogent Cell Genet 45: 218–221.
Bulatova NS, Radjabli SI, Panov EN (1972) Karyological description of three species of the genusPasser.Experientia 28: 1369–1371.
Chelysheva LA, Solovei IV, Rodionov AV, Yakovlev AF, Gaginskaya ER (1990) The lampbrush chromosomes of the chicken: the cytological maps of macrobivalents.Cytology 32: 303–316.
Callan HG (1986)Lampbrush Chromosomes. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
Callan HG, Gall JG, Berg CA (1987) The lampbrush chromosomes ofXenopus laevis: preparation, identification, and distribution of 5S DNA sequences.Chromosoma 95: 236–250.
de la Sena CA, Fechheimer NS, Nestor KE (1991) Variability of C-banding patterns in Japanese quail chromosomes.Genome 34, 993–997.
Gaginskaya ER (1972) The nuclear structures of oocytes in adult birds. II. Protein bodies and the karyosphere.Cytology 14: 568–578.
Gaginskaya ER, Kropotova EV, Tsvetkov AG, Vengerov YuYu (1984) Morphology of transcription in lampbrush chromosomes from avian oocytes.Cytology 26: 1064–1065.
Gall JG (1954) Lampbrush chromosomes from oocyte nuclei of the newt.J Morphol 94: 283–352.
Gall JG, Stephenson EC, Erba HP, Diaz MO, Barsacchi-Pilone G (1981) Histone genes are located at the sphere loci of newt lampbrush chromosomes.Chromosoma 84: 159–171.
Hutchison NJ (1987) Lampbrush chromosomes of the chickenGallus domesticus.J. Cell Biol 105: 1493–1500.
Khutinaeva MA, Kropotova EV, Gaginskaya ER (1989) Morphofunctional organisation peculiarities of the lampbrush chromosomes of oocytes in the pigeon,Columba livia.Cytology 31: 1185–1193.
Kodama H, Saitoh H, Tone M, Kuhara S, Sakaki Y, Mizuno S (1987) Nucleotide sequences and unusual electrophoretic behavior of the W chromosome-specific repeating DNA units of the domestic fowl,Gallus gallus domesticus.Chromosoma 96: 18–25.
Kropotova EV, Gaginskaya ER (1984) Lampbrush chromosomes from the Japanese quail oocytes: light and electron microscopic study.Cytology 26: 1008–1015.
Macgregor HC (1987) Lampbrush chromosomes.J Cell Sci 488: 7–9.
Macgregor HC, Varley JM (1988)Working with Animal Chromosomes. 2nd ed. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Mayr B, Auer H (1988) A method to induce Giemsa staining resistance of avian W chromosomes: detection of an additional W chromosome in turkey.Genome 30: 395–398.
Mayr B, Lambrou M, Kalat M, Schleger W, Bigelbach A (1990) Characterization of heterochromatin by sequential counterstain-enhanced fluorescence in three domestic bird species:Meleagris gallopavo, Columba livia domestica, andAnser anser L.J Heredity 81: 468–475.
Moyzis RK, Buckingham JM, Cram LSet al. (1988) A highly conserved repetitive DNA sequence, (TTAGGG)n present at the telomeres of human chromosomes.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85, 6622–6626.
Ohno S (1961) Sex chromosomes and microchromosomes ofGallus domesticus.Chromosoma 11: 484–498.
Piccini E, Stella V (1970) Some avian kariograms.Caryologia 23: 189–202.
Pollock B, Fechheimer NS (1981) Variable C-banding patterns and proposed C-band karyotype inGallus domesticus.Genetica 54: 237–279.
Rahn MI, Solari AJ (1986) Recombination nodules in the oocytes of the chicken,Gallus domesticus.Cytogenet Cell Genet 43: 187–193.
Ray-Chaudhuri R (1973) Cytotaxonomy and chromosome evolution in birds. In: Chiarelli AB, Capanna E, eds.Cytotaxonomy and Vertebrate Evolution. London: Academic Press, pp 425–481.
Rodionov AV, Dukelskaya AV, Chelysheva LA, Smirnov AF, Yakovlev AF (1984) Molecular heterogeneity of the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) heterochromatin.3rd National Conference on Cytogenetics, Plovdiv, Poland. pp. 138–141.
Rodionov AV, Chelysheva LA, Kropotova EV, Gaginskaya ER (1989) Heterochromatic regions of the chromosomes in mitosis and at the lampbrush stage in the domestic fowl and Japanese quail.Cytology 31: 867–873.
Saitoh Y, Saitoh H, Ohtomo K, Mizuno S (1991) Occupancy of the majority of DNA in the chicken W chromosome by bent-repetitive sequences.Chromosoma 101: 32–40.
Saitoh Y, Muzuno S (1992) Distributions ofXhoI andEcoRI family repetitive DNA sequences into separate domains in the chicken W chromosome.Chromosoma 101: 474–477.
Solari AJ (1977) Ultrastructure of the synaptic autosomes and ZW bivalent in chicken oocytes.Chromosoma 64: 155–165.
Solari AJ (1992) Equalization of Z and W axes in chicken and quail oocytes.Cytogenet Cell Genet 59: 52–56.
Solari AJ, Fechheimer NS (1988) Quadrivalent formation in a tetraploid chicken oocyte.Genome 30: 900–902.
Solari AJ, Fechheimer NS, Bitgood JJ (1988) Pairing of ZW gonosomes and the localized recombination nodule in two Z-autosome translocations inGallus domesticus.Cytogenet Cell Genet 48: 130–136.
Solovei IV, Khutinaeva MA, Chelysheva LA, Rodionov AV, Gaginskaya ER (1990) Lampbrush sex bivalent of birds: identification and structure.Cytology 32: 817–825.
Solovei IV, Gaginskaya ER, Allen T, Macgregor H (1992) A novel structure associated with a lampbrush chromosome in the chicken,Gallus domesticus.J Cell Sci 101: 759–772.
Tsvetkov AG, Gaginskaya ER (1983) The nuclear matrix of oocytes of the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs L.)Cytology 25: 649–654.
Tone M, Sakaki Y, Hashiguchi T, Mizuno S (1984) Genus specificity and extensive methylation of the W chromosome-specific repetitive DNA sequences from the domestic fowl.Gallus gallus domesticus.Chromosoma 89: 228–237.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Solovei, I., Gaginskaya, E., Hutchison, N. et al. Avian sex chromosomes in the lampbrush form: the ZW lampbrush bivalents from six species of bird. Chromosome Res 1, 153–166 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00710769
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00710769