Cytogenetics of collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus). II. Meiotic behavior of B chromosomes suggests a Y-chromosome origin of supernumerary chromosomes

The patterns of synapsis and chiasma formation of the B chromosomes of male collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) were analyzed by light and electron microscopy and compared to expectations for various hypotheses for the intragenomic origin of supernumerary chromosomes. Pachytene analysis revealed a variety of synaptic configurations including B-chromosome univalents, bivalents and trivalents. In approximately one-half of the pachytene nuclei examined, B chromosomes were in synaptic associations with the normally unpaired portion of the Y chromosome. The B-chromosome configurations at pachynema, including those involving the Y chromosome, were maintained into diakinesis and metaphase I. The meiotic behavior of the B chromosomes was inconsistent with their derivation from centric-fusion products, isochromosome formation, small-autosome polysomy, or the X chromosome. However, the frequent synapsis and apparent recombination between B chromosomes and the Y chromosome implicate this sex chromosome as a possible source of the B chromosomes in collared lemmings.

Cytogenetics of collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus). I. Meiotic behavior and evolution of the neo-XY sex-chromosome system

Electron-microscopic analysis of surface-spread synaptonemal complexes at pachynema and light-microscopic analysis of chromosomal configurations at diakinesis/metaphase I corroborate the hypothesized neo-XY derivation of the sex chromosomes of Dicrostonyx groenlandicus. Although an intact neo-XY pairing configuration was observed in a relatively small percentage of the pachytene cells in each individual, the high incidence of neo-XY bivalents at diakinesis/metaphase I suggests that the other observed pachytene configurations were artifacts of the physical stresses of the surface-spreading procedure. The very low frequency (0.6%) of univalent neo-X and neo-Y chromosomes at diakinesis and metaphase I is attributable to consistent synapsis and recombination between their homologous autosomally derived segments. The resultant stability of the sex bivalent through metaphase I may have increased the efficacy of sex-chromosome segregation, and thereby played a mechanistic role in the evolutionary incorporation of the neo-XY sex-chromosome constitution in D. groenlandicus.

Cytogenetic nomenclature of deer mice, Peromyscus (Rodentia): revision and review of the standardized karyotype. Report of the Committee for the Standardization of Chromosomes of Peromyscus

A revision of the standardized karyotype of deer mice (Peromyscus) is presented. This revision addresses short-comings of the original standardization, contains a substantial increase in the number of G-band markers and provides a nomenclature for the G-bands of each autosome and the X chromosome. Using the revised standardized karyotype, we specify the particular G-bands or patterns that identify each chromosome and catalog the more problematic chromosome identifications and likely misidentifications. For each chromosome, we present an overview of previously reported variation in euchromatic arrangement and heterochromatic constitution. We then review previous applications of the standardized karyotype and summarize the predominant findings from cytogenetic and cytosystematic studies of Peromyscus and related taxa.