TY - JOUR
T1 - B chromosomes of maize (Zea mays L.) are positioned nonrandomly within sperm nuclei
AU - Rusche, Maxine Losoff
AU - Mogensen, H. L.
AU - Chaboud, Annie
AU - Faure, Jean Emmanuel
AU - Rougier, Mireille
AU - Keim, Paul
AU - Dumas, Christian
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank Karen P. VanWinkle-Swift for the generous use of her microscope facilities and Brad Blake for professional help with growing the maize plants. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant IBN 96–30111 and by the NSF-Centre National de Recherche Scientifi-que joint program under grant INT 96-03208.
PY - 2001/2
Y1 - 2001/2
N2 - We used fluorescence in situ hybridization to identify and map the position of B chromosomes (supernumerary chromosomes) within maize sperm cells. Observations on over 1,000 sperm cells from several genotypes show that, on average, the B chromosomes are positioned in the tip one-fourth of the sperm nucleus two-thirds of the time. In contrast, the centromeres and knobs of the A chromosomes (the normal set) are not restricted to the tip portion of the nucleus. To our knowledge, this is the first example of specific chromosome positioning within a plant gamete. Studies on nuclear architecture of somatic cells in both plants and animals suggest that chromosome behavior and gene expression may correlate with chromosome position within the nucleus. The functional significance of nonrandom positioning of the B chromosomes within maize sperm is as yet unclear.
AB - We used fluorescence in situ hybridization to identify and map the position of B chromosomes (supernumerary chromosomes) within maize sperm cells. Observations on over 1,000 sperm cells from several genotypes show that, on average, the B chromosomes are positioned in the tip one-fourth of the sperm nucleus two-thirds of the time. In contrast, the centromeres and knobs of the A chromosomes (the normal set) are not restricted to the tip portion of the nucleus. To our knowledge, this is the first example of specific chromosome positioning within a plant gamete. Studies on nuclear architecture of somatic cells in both plants and animals suggest that chromosome behavior and gene expression may correlate with chromosome position within the nucleus. The functional significance of nonrandom positioning of the B chromosomes within maize sperm is as yet unclear.
KW - B chromosomes
KW - Fluorescence in situ hybridization
KW - Maize sperm cells
KW - Nuclear architecture
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U2 - 10.1007/s004970000055
DO - 10.1007/s004970000055
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0034465899
SN - 0934-0882
VL - 13
SP - 231
EP - 234
JO - Sexual Plant Reproduction
JF - Sexual Plant Reproduction
IS - 4
ER -