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H Riethman

Publications and source records attributed to H Riethman.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Human subtelomere structure and variation.

Work towards completion of the human reference genome sequence has revealed a great deal of complexity and plasticity in human subtelomeric regions. The highly variable subtelomeric repeat regions are filled with recently shuffled genomic segments, many of which contain sequences matching transcripts and transcript fragments; the rapid duplication and combinatorial evolution of these regions has generated an extremely diverse set of subtelomeric alleles in the human species, the complexity and potential significance of which is only beginning to be understood. This review summarizes recent progress in analyzing human subtelomeric sequence assemblies and large-scale variation in human subtelomere regions.

Genetic Variation↗

A map of the human immunoglobulin VH locus completed by analysis of the telomeric region of chromosome 14q.

Analysis of the telomeric region of chromosome 14q has enabled us to complete a map of the immunoglobulin VH locus which accounts for almost all VH segments known to rearrange in B-lymphocytes. The human germline VH repertoire consists of approximately 50 functional VH segments--the exact number depending on the haplotype--spanning 1,100 kilobases upstream of the JH segments. A yeast artificial chromosome used to map these segments was isolated by its ability to provide telomere activity in yeast, suggesting that the VH locus may be located within a few kilobases of the 14q telomere. The limited structural diversity encoded by the functional VH segments demonstrates the importance of combinatorial diversity produced by VDJ joining and the association of heavy and light chains in producing the human antibody repertoire.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Closure of a genetic linkage map of human chromosome 7q with centromere and telomere polymorphisms.

We have constructed a 2.4-cM resolution genetic linkage map for chromosome 7q that is bounded by centromere and telomere polymorphisms and contains 66 loci (88 polymorphic systems), 38 of which are uniquely placed with odds for order of at least 1000:1. Ten genes are included in the map and 11 markers have heterozygosities of at least 70%. This map is the first to incorporate several highly informative markers derived from a telomere YAC clone HTY146 (locus D7S427), including HTY146c3 (HET 92%). The telomere locus markers span at least 200 kb of the 7q terminus and no crossovers within the physical confines of the locus were observed in approximately 240 jointly informative meioses. The sex-equal map length is 158 cM and the largest genetic interval between uniquely localized markers in this map is 11 cM. The female and male map lengths are 181 and 133 cM, respectively. The map is based on the CEPH reference pedigrees and includes over 4000 new genotypes, our previously reported data plus 29 allele systems from the published CEPH version 5 database, and was constructed using the program package CRI-MAP. This genetic linkage map can be considered a baseline map for 7q, and will be useful for defining the extent of chromosome deletions previously reported for breast and prostate cancers, for developing additional genetic maps such as index marker and 1-cM maps, and ultimately for developing a fully integrated genetic and physical map for this chromosome.

Centromere↗

Painting of human chromosomes with probes generated from hybrid cell lines by PCR with Alu and L1 primers.

Specific amplification of human sequences of up to several kb length has recently been accomplished in man-hamster and man-mouse somatic hybrid cell DNA by IRS-PCR (interspersed repetitive sequence - polymerase chain reaction). This approach is based on oligonucleotide primers that anneal specifically to human Alu- or L1-sequences and allows the amplification of any human sequences located between adequately spaced, inverted Alu- or L1-blocks. Here, we demonstrate that probe pools generated from two somatic hybrid cell lines by Alu- and L1-PCR can be used for chromosome painting in normal human lymphocyte metaphase spreads by chromosomal in situ suppression (CISS-) hybridization. The painted chromosomes and chromosome subregions directly represent the content of normal and deleted human chromosomes in the two somatic hybrid cell lines. The combination of IRS-PCR and CISS-hybridization will facilitate and improve the cytogenetic analysis of somatic hybrid cell panels, in particular, in cases where structurally aberrant human chromosomes or human chromosome segments involved in interspecies translocations cannot be unequivocally identified by classical banding techniques. Moreover, this new approach will help to generate probe pools for the specific delineation of human chromosome subregions for use in cytogenetic diagnostics and research without the necessity of cloning.

Animals↗

Characterization of polymorphic loci on a telomeric fragment of DNA from the long arm of human chromosome 7.

The 240-kb yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) HTY146 (D7S427) containing the telomere from the q arm of human chromosome 7 was subcloned into the cosmid vector sCOS-1. Cosmid subclones were screened for DNA polymorphisms by Southern blot analysis of restriction digests of DNA from random individuals. Four distinct polymorphisms were characterized. These markers provide a resource for defining the end of the genetic map for the long arm of human chromosome 7.

Blotting, Southern↗