Regional localization of sex-specific Bkm-related sequences on proximal chromosome 17 of mice

Development and fertility in the mouse are known to be influenced by loci mapped to the T/t complex of chromosome 17. Recent evidence suggests that one or more genes near this region may also be associated with sex determination. Washburn and Eicher recently reported partial to complete sex reversal with the Thp deletion on some genetic backgrounds and suggest that this result may be due to a primary sex-determining locus (Tas) that is closely linked to, or a part of, the T locus. Sex-specific, Bkm (banded Krait minor satellite DNA)-related sequences are known to have autosomal as well as heterogametic sex chromosomal copies, but specific regions of autosomal localization have not been described. We now demonstrate the presence of chromosome Y-related DNA sequences on proximal chromosome 17 in Sex-reversed (Sxr) and normal mice using in situ hybridization of mitotic chromosomes with 3H-labelled pCS316 (ref. 4), a probe that shows major hybridization to the proximal portion of the mouse chromosome Y. These data, and those of Washburn and Eicher, argue for a gene(s) related to sex determination or differentiation within the proximal portion of mouse chromosome 17.     

Transposable mating type genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A functional copy of the alpha mating type gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been cloned by transformation in yeast. Using the Southern Blotting procedure it has been shown that three distinct genetic loci implicated in mating type interconversion (HML, HMR and MAT) contain sequences homologous to the clone fragment. The restriction fragment associated with each locus exhibits a characteristic size which can be correlated with the mating type allele present at that locus. The characteristic size difference between the a and alpha genetic elements made it possible to demonstrate that the homothallic interconversion of mating types in this yeast occurs by DNA rearrangement as proposed in the 'cassette hypothesis'.     

A gradient of sex linkage in the pseudoautosomal region of the human sex chromosomes

Three independent pseudoautosomal loci are linked to sex determination at frequencies which define a gradient of linkage. The segregation patterns of these loci indicate that X/Y recombination results from a single obligatory meiotic crossing-over in the pseudoautosomal region. Recombination in male germ cells in the terminal regions of the short arms of the X and Y chromosomes in 10-fold greater than between the same regions of the X chromosomes in female germ cells.     

Turnover of sex chromosomes induced by sexual conflict

Sex-determination genes are among the most fluid features of the genome in many groups of animals. In some taxa the master sex-determining gene moves frequently between chromosomes, whereas in other taxa different genes have been recruited to determine the sex of the zygotes. There is a well developed theory for the origin of stable and highly dimorphic sex chromosomes seen in groups such as the eutherian mammals. In contrast, the evolutionary lability of genetic sex determination in other groups remains largely unexplained. In this theoretical study, we show that an autosomal gene under sexually antagonistic selection can cause the spread of a new sex-determining gene linked to it. The mechanism can account for the origin of new sex-determining loci, the transposition of an ancestral sex-determining gene to an autosome, and the maintenance of multiple sex-determining factors in species that lack heteromorphic sex chromosomes.     

Methylation of a CTCF-dependent boundary controls imprinted expression of the Igf2 gene

The expression of the insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) and H19 genes is imprinted. Although these neighbouring genes share an enhancer, H19 is expressed only from the maternal allele, and Igf2 only from the paternally inherited allele. A region of paternal-specific methylation upstream of H19 appears to be the site of an epigenetic mark that is required for the imprinting of these genes. A deletion within this region results in loss of imprinting of both H19 and Igf2 (ref. 5). Here we show that this methylated region contains an element that blocks enhancer activity. The activity of this element is dependent upon the vertebrate enhancer-blocking protein CTCF. Methylation of CpGs within the CTCF-binding sites eliminates binding of CTCF in vitro, and deletion of these sites results in loss of enhancer-blocking activity in vivo, thereby allowing gene expression. This CTCF-dependent enhancer-blocking element acts as an insulator. We suggest that it controls imprinting of Igf2. The activity of this insulator is restricted to the maternal allele by specific DNA methylation of the paternal allele. Our results reveal that DNA methylation can control gene expression by modulating enhancer access to the gene promoter through regulation of an enhancer boundary.     

A primitive Y chromosome in papaya marks incipient sex chromosome evolution

Many diverse systems for sex determination have evolved in plants and animals. One involves physically distinct (heteromorphic) sex chromosomes (X and Y, or Z and W) that are homozygous in one sex (usually female) and heterozygous in the other (usually male). Sex chromosome evolution is thought to involve suppression of recombination around the sex determination genes, rendering permanently heterozygous a chromosomal region that may then accumulate deleterious recessive mutations by Muller's ratchet, and fix deleterious mutations by hitchhiking as nearby favourable mutations are selected on the Y chromosome. Over time, these processes may cause the Y chromosome to degenerate and to diverge from the X chromosome over much of its length; for example, only 5% of the human Y chromosome still shows X-Y recombination. Here we show that papaya contains a primitive Y chromosome, with a male-specific region that accounts for only about 10% of the chromosome but has undergone severe recombination suppression and DNA sequence degeneration. This finding provides direct evidence for the origin of sex chromosomes from autosomes.     

DNA transformation leads to pilin antigenic variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Many pathogenic bacteria express pili (fimbriae) on their cell surfaces. These structures mediate binding of bacteria to host tissues, and may also be involved in other aspects of pathogenesis. Neisseria gonorrhoeae pili are mainly composed of a single protein, pilin, whose expression is controlled at chromosomal expression loci (pilE). An intact pilin gene and promoter sequences are only found at pilE. Strain MS11 contains two expression sites (pilE1 and pilE2), whereas several of its derivatives and other clinical isolates contain only one. Silent pilin loci (pilS1-pilS7) contain truncated variant pilin genes lacking the promoter and conserved pilin gene sequences. Pilin antigenic variation in N. gonorrhoeae occurs by DNA recombination between one of he silent partial variant gene segments in pilS and an expressed pilin gene in pilE. The recombination reactions are nonreciprocal, and therefore the mechanism has been classified as gene conversion. We report that much of the recombination between pilin loci actually occurs after transformation of living piliated cells by DNA liberated from lysed cells within a population. This constitutes a new molecular mechanism for an antigenic variation system, as well as the first specific function for a DNA transformation system.     

Molecular genetic evidence for heterogeneity in manic depression

Manic depression is a severe cyclic mental illness that can be unipolar or bipolar and has a lifetime risk of approximately 7 per 1,000 in most populations. Families with multiple cases of manic depression have been described that are compatible with both autosomal dominant and X-linked modes of genetic transmission. Psychoactive antidepressant and stimulant drugs that help to ameliorate depression and mania are thought to act by affecting catecholamine neurotransmitter systems such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine, amongst others. Mutations affecting the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene, which encodes the rate-limiting enzyme for the synthesis of these three neurotransmitters, might therefore be responsible for causing the manic depressive phenotype. We have studied three Icelandic kindreds amongst whom it appears that a single autosomal dominant disease allele is segregating. In these families there were 44 cases amongst 73 individuals at risk. Genetic linkage studies were carried out using clones encoding tyrosine hydroxylase the variable portion of the Harvey-ras-1 (HRAS1) locus and the variable region of the insulin gene (INS). All three markers are closely linked on chromosome 11 and were used to observe the segregation of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in the three affected kindreds. We found no evidence for linkage to these markers in any of the three families. In contrast, Gerhard et al. found linkage between manic depression and HRAS1 in a single large Amish kindred. We conclude that there is genetic heterogeneity of linkage in manic depression. Therefore mutations at different loci are responsible for the manic depressive phenotype in the Amish and in Iceland.     

Basis for recognition of cisplatin-modified DNA by high-mobility-group proteins.

The anticancer activity of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin) arises from its ability to damage DNA, with the major adducts formed being intrastrand d(GpG) and d(ApG) crosslinks. These crosslinks bend and unwind the duplex, and the altered structure attracts high-mobility-group domain (HMG) and other proteins. This binding of HMG-domain proteins to cisplatin-modified DNA has been postulated to mediate the antitumour properties of the drug. Many HMG-domain proteins recognize altered DNA structures such as four-way junctions and cisplatin-modified DNA, but until now the molecular basis for this recognition was unknown. Here we describe mutagenesis, hydroxyl-radical footprinting and X-ray studies that elucidate the structure of a 1:1 cisplatin-modified DNA/HMG-domain complex. Domain A of the structure-specific HMG-domain protein HMG1 binds to the widened minor groove of a 16-base-pair DNA duplex containing a site-specific cis-[Pt(NH3)2[d(GpG)-N7(1),-N7(2)]] adduct. The DNA is strongly kinked at a hydrophobic notch created at the platinum-DNA crosslink and protein binding extends exclusively to the 3' side of the platinated strand. A phenylalanine residue at position 37 intercalates into a hydrophobic notch created at the platinum crosslinked d(GpG) site and binding of the domain is dramatically reduced in a mutant in which alanine is substituted for phenylalanine at this position.     

鲤鱼中5个Sox基因保守区的克隆和比较

SRY/Sry基因已被公认为是哺乳动物的睾丸决定因子(TestisDeterminingFactor,TDF)基因,它的正确的时空表达是雄性生殖腺形成的关键,即导致哺乳动物胚胎性别决定的开关基因.作为一个大基因家族的首位成员,它的发现诱发了Sox基因家族的研究热潮.Sox基因家族是在动物中发现的一类新的编码转录因子的基因家族,其产物具有一个HMG基序保守区,参与诸如性别决定、骨组织的发育、血细胞生成过程、神经系统的发育、晶状体的发育等多种早期胚胎发育过程.鱼类是脊椎动物中进化地位较低的一类生物,除了个别种类出现了与性别相关的染色体外,绝大多数都无异形性染色体,说明了鱼类正处于性别染色体进化的重要时刻.研究鱼类中的Sox基因对于研究SRY的发生、性别染色体的进化以及性别的决定机制有着重要的意义.本实验利用兼并引物PCR的方法,参照Sox基因的HMG-box区氨基酸序列设计简并引物,对鲤鱼(Cyrinuscarpio)的基因组进行扩增,获得5个新的基因片段.经过在Genbank中进行同源性比较和分析,证明它们是鲤鱼的Sox基因并分别命名为CcSox3、CcSox4、CcSox11、CcSox14、CcSox21.与鲤鱼中的这些Sox基因具有最高同源性的基因分别是OlSox3,同源性为94.03%;CvSox4基因,同源性为88.06%;DrSox11基因,同源性为97.01%;MmSox14和HsSox14基?     

奶牛胎儿细胞多位点基因打靶的研究

利用奶牛rDNA基因间的ITS重复序列作为靶位点,对奶牛胎儿成纤维细胞进行多位点基因打靶,建立以重复序列为靶位点的多位点基因打靶技术,并为克隆定点转基因奶牛提供核供体。首先分离培养出奶牛胎儿成纤维细胞,并进行性别鉴定和核型分析。采用MTT比色法确定了G418和GCV正负筛选的最低有效浓度。然后通过多位点基因打靶载体转染、正负筛选获得7个表达绿色荧光的克隆细胞系,经PCR,RT-PCR和测序证实其中1个细胞系为定点整合的克隆细胞系,且GFP基因表达。     

DNA typing from single hairs

The characterization of genetic variation at the DNA level has generated significant advances in gene and disease mapping, and in the forensic identification of individuals. The most common method of DNA analysis, that of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), requires microgram amounts of relatively undegraded DNA for multi-locus typing, and hundreds of nanograms for single-locus comparisons. Such DNA frequently cannot be obtained from forensic samples such as single hairs and blood stains, or from anthropological, genetic or zoological samples collected in the field. To detect polymorphic DNA sequences from single human hairs, we have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in which specific short regions of a gene can be greatly amplified in vitro from as little as a single molecule of DNA. We have detected genetically variable mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences from the root region of shed, as well as freshly-plucked, single hairs; mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences have been detected in a sample from a single hair shaft. We have used three different means of DNA typing on these samples: the determination of amplified DNA fragment length differences, hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotide probes, and direct DNA sequencing.     

A potential donor gene for the bm1 gene conversion event in the C57BL mouse

The mammalian major histocompatibility complex (MHC; H-2 complex in mouse) is a large multigene complex which encodes cell-surface antigens involved in the cellular immune response to foreign antigens. Class I polypeptides expressed at the H-2K and H-2D loci of numerous mouse strains exhibit an unusually high degree of genetic polymorphism, which is assumed to be related to their function as primary recognition elements in the immune response. We suggested that this H-2 polymorphism may arise by gene conversion-like events between non-allelic class I genes. This is supported by our recent comparison of the DNA sequences of the normal H-2Kb gene sequence, from the C57BL/10 mouse, and a mutant form of this gene called H-2Kbm1: the mutant allele differs from the H-2Kb gene in seven bases out of a region of 13 bases in exon 3 of the class I gene (which encodes alpha 2 (C1) the second highly polymorphic protein domain), suggesting that this region of new sequence had been introduced into the H-2Kb sequence following unequal pairing of two class I genes in the genome of the C57BL mouse. Schulze et al. have obtained similar results. Here we report work identifying a potential donor gene in our library of 26 class I genes cloned from the C57BL/10 mouse.     

Polymorphism of human Ia antigens: gene conversion between two DR beta loci results in a new HLA-D/DR specificity

The polymorphic HLA-DR beta-chains are encoded within the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) by multiple loci resulting from gene duplications. Certain DR haplotypes can be grouped into families based on shared structural factors. We have studied the molecular basis of HLA-DR polymorphism within such a group which includes the haplotypes DR3, DR5 and DRw6. Molecular mapping of the DR beta-chain region allows true allelic comparisons of the two expressed DR beta-chain loci, DR beta I and DR beta III. At the more polymorphic locus, DR beta I, the allelic differences are clustered and may result from gene conversion events over very short distances. The gene encoding the HLA-DR3/Dw3 specificity has been generated by a gene conversion involving the DR beta I and the DR beta III loci of the HLA-DRw6/Dw18 haplotype, as recipient and donor gene, respectively. Based on which allele is found at DR beta III, the less polymorphic locus, two groups of haplotypes can be defined: DRw52a and DRw52b. The generation of HLA-DR polymorphism within the DRw52 supertypic group can thus be accounted for by a succession of gene duplication, divergence and gene conversion.