A satellite III sequence shared by human chromosomes 13,14, and 21 that is contiguous with α satellite DNA

Abstract

We report the isolation of a clone (pTR9) from a human chromosome 21 λ phage library, which was found to contain two distinct components: (1) a previously unreported subfamily of human satellite III (pTR9-s3; 1,485 bp) and (2) an α satellite sequence (pTR9-alpha; 250 bp) containing 1.5 copies of a 171-bp alphoid unit that shows 88.4% homology to a previously reported α satellite consensus sequence. The two components are separated by two direct repeats of 9 bp. Use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify across the junction between pTR9-s3 and pTR9-alpha established that these two sequences are contiguous in total human genomic DNA and in DNA derived from somatic cell hybrids carrying human chromosomes 13, 14, or 21. A related, but considerably more diverged, sequence was also detected on chromosome 15. Southern analysis of somatic cell hybrids at high stringency revealed a common structure of the pTR9-s3 sequence on chromosomes 13, 14, and 21 but not on 15 or 22. This sequence should be useful for the study of the structural organisation of the centromere of these chromosomes and the mechanism of their involvement in Robertsonian translocations.

Comparative chromosome mapping of 5S rDNA and 5S<i>Hin</i>dIII repetitive sequences in Erythrinidae fishes (Characiformes) with emphasis on the <i>Hoplias malabaricus</i> ‘species complex’

“…The expanded TAAA motif in the 5S Hin dIII-DNA is similar to the short A-rich motifs that were previously identified in the centromeric satellite DNAs of different fish species (Wright, 1989;Denovan and Wright, 1990;Garrido-Ramos et al, 1995;Kato, 1999;Canapa et al, 2002;Viñas et al, 2004). This short motif also shows considerable similarity to other centromeric motifs found in humans (Vissel et al, 1992), mice (Wong and Rattner, 1988), and reptiles (Cremisi et al, 1988), suggesting that such sequences might play an important role in the structure and function of the H. malabaricus centromere. According to Martins et al (2006), the 5S Hin dIII-DNA originated from true copies of 5S rDNA and was propagated and maintained in the centromeric region of most chromosomes due to a structural or functional advantage conferred to the nuclear genome.…”

Host Sequences Flanking the Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Provirus In Vivo

“…In the present study, three HTLV-1 integration sites showed significant homologies with such satellite DNA sequences. The first clone corresponded to alpha-satellite DNA located on chromosomes 13, 14, and 21 (48). The second clone was homologous to a human middle repetitive DNA sequence (P. P. Ratnasinghe and P. R. Musich, unpublished data), while the third clone corresponded to beta-satellite DNA located on the distal and proximal short arms of the human acrocentric chromosomes (18).…”

The organization of classical satellite DNAs in human chromosomes: an approach using AluI and TaqI restriction endonucleases

“…On the other hand, that RE-pretreatment might affect probe accessibility is also confirmed by the fact that when FISH is carried out after TaqI digestion in situ, no clear hybridization appears in centromeres though the majority of S3 DNA is retained on the slides, as shown in Figure 3c.This implies that FISH signal enhancement does not always occur after RE-digestion in situ. In fact, while TaqI pre-treatment results in an absence of signal with both S2 and S3 as probes, possibly due to the capability of this enzyme to extensively cleave such satellite DNAs (see also Moyzis et al, 1987;Vissel et al, 1992), FISH effected after AluI digestion reveals no significant variation in signal intensity in centromeric heterochromatin of chromosomes 1 and 16, as compared to undigested preparations. This is noteworthy if one considers that a similar attack, in terms of re-DNA fragment production (about 1200-200 bp in size), is effected by AluI and induces dramatic FISH signal enhancement in the chromosome 9 centromeric area.…”