B-chromosome systems in flowering plants and animal species

The distribution of repetitive DNAs between regular and supernumerary chromosomes in species of Glossina (Tsetse): a two-step process in the origin of supernumeraries

Several species of tsetse fly within the Morsitans and Fusca subgenera of Glossina contain supernumerary (B) chromosomes. Previous studies on the meiotic behaviour of chromosomes (Southern and Pell, 1973) and the C-band patterns (Jordan et al., 1977) have indicated a close similarity between the Y chromosome and the supernumeraries. The distributions of the highly abundant families of DNA (satellite DNAs) between the autosomes, sex chromosomes and B chromosomes of G.m. morsitans, G. austeni and G. pallidipes have been examined by in situ hybridisation. In addition, the organisation and sequence homologies of satellite DNAs have been examined by restriction enzymes and heterologous hybridisations in in situ and "Southern" transfer conditions. The majority of satellite sequences that are homologous between species are distributed in several different arrangements between A and B chromosome telomeres with minority sequences at some centromeric and intercalary locations. There is no extensive satellite DNA similarity between the Y and B chromosomes. We suggest that the Y and B chromosome associations and synchronous allocycly during meiosis are the result of extensive heterochromatinisation of these two chromosome types, that is probably a reflection of two separate stages involved in the generation of the B chromosomes in the genus. The independent evolution of satellites and supernumeraries is discussed.

[Transmission analysis of the B chromosomes in Locusta migratoria migratorioides R. et F. (Orthoptera, Acrididae) (author's transl)]

In a African grasshopper population of Locusta migratoria migratorioides reared in the laboratory, B chromosome transmission is analysed in progeny of pairs taken at radom from the population. An accumulation mechanism of Bs exists in the females which presumably results from preferential egregation of the Bs in the female pronucleus. The analysis also shows B chromosome elimination during embryonic and larval development by means of mitotic non-kisjunction: these non-disjunctions induce interfollicular variations in the number of Bs but all the cells of a follicle have the same number of Bs. The frequency of animals with B chromosome rises from 34% to 75% as the diurnal temperature rises from 27 degrees C to 35 degrees C. Thus frequency is controlled by genetic and environmental factors.

The effect of accessory chromatin on chiasma distribution in maize

From an analysis of metaphase I bivalent configurations in Zea mays L. it was possible to determine the effects of two supernumerary elements on chiasma formation. Both the B chromosome and abnormal chromosome 10 increased chiasma frequency. In addition to enhancing total exchanges, both elements caused a redistribution of chiasmata from distal to more proximal locations.

Meiotic drive for B-chromosomes in the primary oocytes of Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Orthopera: Acrididae)

Using a modified technique which allowed observation of chromosome orientation in the primary oocyte of grasshoppers at the onset of anaphase, it has been possible to establish that the B-chromosomes is distributed preferentially on the egg side of the metaphase plate rather than the polar body side. The frequency of this preferential orientation matches very closely the level of preferential transmission determined from breeding experiments using individuals from the same population. The spindle is asymmetrical in the primary oocyte of this species, and a possible explanation of the meiotic drive is proposed as a result of the conical shape of nucleoplasm surrounding this spindle. The autosomal chiasma frequency of these females is generally lower than comparable males and is increased by the presence of B chromosomes; but the ciasma frequencies of the sexes respond differently to the addition of 1 and 2 B-chromosomes.

Chromosome elimination in trisomics of Coix aquatica Roxb

Somatic chromosome elimination was identified and its patterns studied in a trisomic (2n=11) with marker genes in Coix aquatica Roxb. In a cross between a recessive trisomic with green base and white style (ccc ii ss) and a dominant disomic having purple base and purple style (CC II SS), all the F(1) seedling progeny were purple based because of the presence of C, I and S. For C. to be expressed in seedling base, either I should be absent or S should be present with I. In style colour, however, irrespective of the presence of I and S, C produces purple phenotype.In one trisomic (Ccc ii ss) plant (designated as 4-15) of the F(1) progeny, a part of the seedling base was green. All the tillers coming up from the green side of the main tiller also had green base, and those arising on the purple side were purple based. Similarly, the pistillate spikelets on the green side of the main culm and on the tillers with green base were white styled, and the male spikes showed 10 chromosomes. Female spikelets on the purple side of the main tiller and on the tillers with purple base were mostly purple styled and the male spikes had 11 chromosomes. In some of the purple based tillers, however, there were both 11 and 10 chromosomes in different regions or different inflorescence clusters on the tiller. In these tillers, where the chromosome number was 11, style colour was purple, and white style occurred when there were 10 chromosomes. In one tiller, the style colour was purple but the chromosome number was 10.The recessive phenotype of the style in the trisomic conceivably resulted from an elimination of the extra chromosome carrying the dominant allele C. On the basis of the morphological features of the extra chromosome, such as length, centromere position and distribution pattern of the hetero and eupycnotic regions, it was identified as chromosome No. 2 in the complement. It was therefore possible to place with certainty the gene c on this chromosome. Sometimes, however, the extra chromosome carrying c also was eliminated giving 10 chromosomes and purple style.In the other trisomic plants of the F(1) progeny, one plant showed 11 chromosomes but in a tiller there were only 10 chromosomes and white styles. In two other plants, although the chromosome number was 11 throughout, white style was present in a single cluster of inflorescences in one plant, and in one pistillate spikelet in the other. In the latter two cases, white style was believed to have arisen as a result of a mutation from C to c or somatic crossing over, giving the genotype ccc in the affected regions. In a single plant, chromosome elimination was observed in only one cell.Apparently the 10-chromosome sectors arose from the 11-chromosome condition by selective elimination of the extra chromosome during mitosis in the primordium giving rise to these sectors. In the affected plants, elimination did not obviously occur at the same stage but at different times in their ontogeny. Instability is probably governed by one or a few major genes, associated with a number of modifiers, exhibiting incomplete penetrance and variable expression. Chromosome elimination did not apparently follow any particular pattern but was erratic. Probably some intracellular environment is necessary to trigger the mechanism governing the elimination into action. The unstable system, occurring in combination with other favourable features like the functional nature of the aneuploid gametes, sexual reproduction, monoecious condition favouring cross pollination and tolerance of extra chromosomes by the sporophyte, could be an important factor in the cytogenetic evolution of the species.

Annual cycles in the incidence of b chromosomes in the grasshopper Myrmeleotettix maculatus (acrididae: orthoptera)

The frequency of B chromosomes has been determined for several stages in the grasshopper life-cycle, over three generations, in three natural populations spanning a steep cline in East Anglia. This has revealed a rise in B frequency in prediapause eggs, a fall during the winter in the embryos and a rise in the early nymphs in certain situations. The causes of these effects are discussed and also their importance, along with meiotic drive, in maintaining an environmentally correlated cline of stable adult B frequencies.