X-chromosome inactivation. Pinpointing the centre.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M F Lyon.
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The murine dominant gene Cat-2 was located on chromosome 1 between the loci of fuzzy and leaden. Subsequent linkage analysis revealed one recombinant between Cat-2t and isocitrate dehydrogenase-1, and one between Cat-2t and gamma E-crystallin among 338 offspring in three-point backcrosses. The resulting genetic distance between the loci is 0.3 +/- 0.3 cM. The very close linkage between the Cat-2 and the gamma-crystallin gene cluster together with the finding of reduced gamma-crystallin transcripts in mutant lenses suggest strongly that the gamma-crystallin genes may be candidate genes for the Cat-2 mutations.
The mapping of six mouse autosomal dominant cataract mutations that were induced by mutagenic treatment with radiation or ethylnitrosourea is described. Three, with differing phenotypes, mapped on Chromosome 1 between the loci of fuzzy (fz) and leaden (ln) and close to the locus of the gamma-crystallin gene cluster. One of these, Cat-2t, had previously been shown to be a member of a group of five allelic mutants. In addition, the previously known mutant eye lens obsolescence, Elo, maps to the same point. There are thus now eight mutants that map to this point and that may involve mutations in one of the gamma-crystallin genes. In addition, one of these mutants may be a homologue of Coppock cataract in man, which also maps close to the gamma-crystallin locus. Of the three remaining mutants, one, with the suggested symbol Cat-5, mapped to the proximal region of Chromosome 10, 23.4 +/- 4.0 cM from downless (dl), a region with homology to human 6q. A second mutant, provisionally designated Opj, mapped on Chromosome 16, 8.2 +/- 3.9 cM from the marker mahoganoid (md). Thus, it possibly has a homologue on human 22q, a region in which one of the beta-crystallin loci is sited. A third mutant, provisionally designated Npp, mapped to Chromosome 5, 1.3 +/- 0.9 cM from the locus of W, and thus probably has a homologue on human Chromosome 4.
Genetic imprinting is an important component of X chromosome inactivation, since in marsupials and extraembryonic cell lineages of mice and rats, the paternally derived X chromosome is preferentially inactivated. This imprinting is thought to be mediated via the X inactivation centre. The gene symbolized Xist is a strong candidate for a role in the function of the X inactivation centre and the paper reviews the evidence that Xist shows imprinted behaviour and that differential methylation is the possible basis of the imprint. This paper is the text of the speech given by Dr. Mary Lyon after the awarding of the Mauro Baschirotto prize at the meeting of the European Society of Human Genetics in Paris, June 1994 (see page 305).
When a nerve axon is cut or crushed, the nerve fibers in the distal part of the axon, separated from the cell body, undergo a form of spontaneous degeneration, known as Wallerian degeneration. A substrain of the mouse inbred strain C57BL, known as C57BL/Ola, carries a mutant form of a gene involved in Wallerian degeneration in the peripheral and central nervous systems, and in retrograde degeneration of retinal ganglion cells. Wallerian degeneration in this substrain is abnormally slow. Previously the defect had been shown to be due to an autosomal dominant gene. The locus has been given the name and symbol Wallerian degeneration Wld, with the mutant allele Wlds (Wallerian degeneration-slow). The Wld locus has now been mapped, by using conventional and molecular markers, to the distal end of chromosome 4, near the locus of pronatriodilatin (Pnd). The order of loci (with recombination distances in centimorgans, cM) is cen-D4Mit11-8.9 +/- 1.7 cM-Fuca-2.5 +/- 0.93 cM-Akp-2-3.2 +/- 1.1 cM-D4Mit48-3.5 +/- 1.1 cM-(Wld, Pnd, D4Mit49)-0.71 +/- 0.50 cM-(Eno-1, D4Mit33)-1.4 +/- 0.70 cM-D4Mit42-2.5 +/- 0.93 cM-D4Smh6b. The information on the position of the Wld locus should be valuable in further characterization of this gene involved in nerve degeneration and regeneration.
The epigenetic phenomena of genome imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation, found in mammals, both entail homologous genes or chromosomes behaving differently within the same cell. Although both have consequences for genic balance in the whole genome, in imprinting the control seems mainly at the single gene level, whereas in X-chromosome inactivation there is coordinated regulation of the whole chromosome, and single gene effects are relatively minor.
Complementary DNA clones from the pink-eyed dilution (p) locus of mouse chromosome 7 were isolated from murine melanoma and melanocyte libraries. The transcript from this gene is missing or altered in six independent mutant alleles of the p locus, suggesting that disruption of this gene results in the hypopigmentation phenotype that defines mutant p alleles. Characterization of the human homolog revealed that it is localized to human chromosome 15 at q11.2-q12, a region associated with Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes, suggesting that altered expression of this gene may be responsible for the hypopigmentation phenotype exhibited by certain individuals with these disorders.
Recessive mutant alleles at the pink-eyed dilution (p) locus on mouse chromosome 7 reduce pigmentation of both the coat and eyes. Here we describe the properties and complementation interactions of 10 p alleles, including 6 not previously reported. Several alleles that cause additional phenotypes affecting development, reproduction, and behavior were shown to be deletions by using DNA probes derived from the p region. An alignment of functional and marker-defined units is proposed, giving a linear complementation map that orders at least four functional loci. The characterization of a nested set of deletions around p will facilitate detailed molecular analyses of the genes and developmental functions associated with this part of the mouse genome.
An allele of the mouse brachyury locus, T22H, had been shown previously to involve a deletion of several markers in the proximal part of chromosome 17, and almost certainly includes deletion of the t-complex distorter gene Tcd-1. The effects of T22H on transmission ratio distortion and male sterility caused by the t-complex were compared with those of a partial t-haplotype th51, which carries the t-form of the distorter Tcd-1t. In combination with the complete haplotype tw32, T22H caused severe impairment of male fertility, but males of genotype T22H/t6 or T22H/th51 were normally fertile. These results were very similar to those obtained when th51 was in combination with the same haplotypes. In effect on transmission ratio T22H was again similar to th51, in that it produced a marked increase in the transmission of the haplotype t6. To test whether the effects of T22H were due to deletion of elements other than Tcd-1, the effect of T22H on transmission of the partial haplotype th2 was compared with that of the deletion Thp. Again T22H markedly increased transmission of the t-haplotype and the effect was significantly greater than the small effect produced by Thp. It is concluded that deletion of the distorter Tcd-1 has an effect like that of the t-form of this distorter, Tcd-1t, and hence that Tcd-1t must be an amorph or hypomorph. It is speculated that other t-complex distorters, Tcd-2t and Tcd-3t, may also be amorphs or hypomorphs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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After treatment of mice with thio-TEPA Malashenko and colleagues found differences among inbred strains in yield of dominant lethals and of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow, which they attributed to genes affecting repair. An attempt was made to confirm this work by comparing yields of dominant lethals in different strains of females mated to the same strain of males. However, no differences were found, all strain combinations giving 42-49% dominant lethals after a dose of 2 mg/kg thio-TEPA to late spermatids. Thus, the existence of genetic differences in repair of thio-TEPA induced lesions between strains CBA and C57BL/6J and between C3H/He and 101/H is not confirmed. Possible reasons for the discrepant results are discussed.
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The mouse t complex on chromosome 17 is known to harbour many genes which have an important role in spermatogenesis. One of these, Tcp-1 has been cloned and shown to code for a protein probably essential for acrosome formation. During the isolation of a cDNA for Tcp-1 two other homologous sequences were recognized and described as Tcp-1x and Tcp-1y. In this paper we describe the isolation of a cDNA which has been shown by in situ hybridization to correspond to the Tcp-1x gene. Sequence analysis has confirmed that a 140 bp region of homology between Tcp-1 and Tcp-1x lies in the 3' portion of both genes. Northern blotting has revealed that the Tcp-1x gene is expressed abundantly in liver where two transcripts are detectable and hybrid selection shows that the gene codes for a 37 kDa protein. A search of the DNA database has failed to find any significant homology between Tcp-1x and any other sequences apart from Tcp-1.
We differentially screened a pool of mouse testis clones in order to identify genes important in germ cell development. One of the isolated clones was found to be expressed only in the male germ line where it is first detected at around the pachytene spermatocyte stage. This gene maps to a subregion of the t-complex in the distal inversion near, but not within, the tw18 and the th20 deletions. A comparison of the t and wild forms of the gene reveals a high degree of sequence conservation. This gene is associated with a CpG-rich island at its 5' end. It encodes a novel protein with extensive alpha-helical structure indicative of coiled-coil interactions.
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