ABSTRACT

Stable incorporation of high copy numbers (>10,000 per cell) of a plasmid vector containing a gene conferring resistance to the antibiotic hygromycin was achieved in a cell line derived from the Aedes albopictus mosquito. Plasmid sequences were readily observed by ethidium bromide staining of cellular DNA after restriction endonuclease digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis. The plasmid was demonstrated by in situ hybridization to be present in large arrays integrated in metaphase chromosomes and in minute and double-minute replicating elements. In one subclone, -60,000 copies of the plasmid were organized in a large array that resembles a chromosome, morphologically and in the segregation of its chromatids during anaphase. The original as well as modified versions of the plasmid were rescued by transformation ofEscherichia coli using total cellular DNA. Southern blot analyses of recovered plasmids indicate the presence of mosquito-derived sequences.

The genetic defect responsible for hypersensitivity of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) irs-20 cells to ionizing radiation was found to be recessive in nature and could be complemented to produce wild-type radiosensitivity in irs-20/human hybrids. The radiosensitivities of six hybrid clones were determined based on their colony-forming ability under continuous irradiation at 6 cGy/h. A parallel cytogenetic analysis revealed a concordance between the presence or absence of human chromosome 8 and the resistant or sensitive phenotype. Confirming evidence was obtained using human chromosome 8-specific PCR primers. Positive amplification was obtained in hybrids with wild-type radiosensitivity, while no amplification was obtained in sensitive hybrids. Complementation analysis between radiosensitive CHO irs-20 and murine scid cell lines was carried out to determine whether the defects leading to their ionizing radiation hypersensitivity could be corrected by genetic complementation in the hybrids. Complementation did not occur. A transient V(D)J recombination assay after the introduction of the RAG1 and RAG2 genes indicated that the V(D)J recombination ability of the CHO irs-20 cells was about 10% of that for the CHO wild-type cells for signal join formation with an 80% joining fidelity and only 3% of the parental level for coding join formation. These data show that murine scid and irs-20 mutant hamster cells fall into the same complementation group and show similar defects in V(D)J recombination.

A method was used to detect chromosome inversions as apparent or false sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in the first mitosis after gamma irradiation of human G0 cells. Dose-response relationships for small inversions have not been measured and reported previously, but it has been assumed that these are induced with a frequency equal to that of their easily measured asymmetrical counterpart, the interstitial deletion. Our experiments confirm this expectation. The results also demonstrate, as others have suggested, that in protocols where SCEs have been reported in the first postirradiation mitosis after incorporation of BrdU in the previous cell cycle, the X- or gamma-ray treatment of G0- or G1-phase cells produces virtually no true SCEs.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization of a whole chromosome 1–specific probe from the yellow-bellied slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) to cells from four other species of turtle ranging from a desert tortoise to a loggerhead sea turtle resulted in specific and exclusive hybridization to chromosome 1 in all five species. Previous observations of conservation in the giemsa banding pattern and chromosome morphology and number among turtles are thus extended to the DNA sequence level, revealing a cytogenetic stability of chromosome 1 in these turtles during the past 66–144 million years. This contrasts with the situation for various hominoid species where, in many instances, extensive chromosomal rearrangements have been reported in one third of that time period. Our probe, which was prepared by microdissecting whole chromosomes from embryonic T. scripta fibroblasts and amplifying using DOP-PCR, is the first report of a whole-chromosome FISH probe for any reptile.