Meiotic abnormalities in hybrid mice of the C57BL/6J x Mus spretus cross suggest a cytogenetic basis for Haldane's rule of hybrid sterility.

Authors

D W. Hale
L L. Washburn
E M. Eicher

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1993

Keywords

Female, Hybridization, Infertility: ge, Infertility-Female: ge, Infertility-Male: ge, Male, Meiosis, Mice, Mice-Inbred-C57BL, Mice-Inbred-Strains, Microscopy-Electron, Sex-Chromosomes, Species-Specificity, SUPPORT-NON-U-S-GOVT, SUPPORT-U-S-GOVT-P-H-S, Synaptonemal-Complex

First Page

221

Last Page

234

JAX Source

Cytogenet Cell Genet 1993;63(4):221-34

Grant

GM20919/GM/NIGMS

Abstract

Light- and electron-microscopic analyses of chromosomal pairing and recombination in F1 and first-backcross generation mice of the C57BL/6J x Mus spretus cross revealed a variety of meiotic irregularities that could contribute to meiocyte loss and infertility. Pachytene anomalies included univalency, partially paired bivalents, homolog-length inequalities, nonhomologous pairing, and associations of asynapsed autosomal segments with the X chromosome. These phenomena were most prevalent in F1 males, which are invariably sterile. Although F1 females were qualitatively fertile, breeding data indicated significant reproductive impairment. Molecular analyses of X-linked and pseudoautosomal loci in sterile and fertile backcross males revealed that the failure of X-Y pairing and recombination is correlated with heterozygosity within the pseudoautosomal regions of the X and Y chromosomes. In addition to impairing fertility, the synaptic disturbances (such as localized asynapsis and nonhomologous pairing) observed in F1 individuals can potentially alter recombinational patterns, thereby contributing to the genetic-map distortion observed with this interspecific cross. Together, the cytogenetic and reproductive data suggest that sex-related differences in the gametogenic process, quantitative differences in the incidence of synaptic irregularities in female and male meiosis, and phenomena associated with the X and Y chromosomes comprise the etiological basis of the sex-biased F1 sterility. The differential gender-related effects of these cytogenetic phenomena may constitute the underlying basis of Haldane's rule in mammals.

Recommended Citation

Hale DW, Washburn LL, Eicher EM. Meiotic abnormalities in hybrid mice of the C57BL/6J x Mus spretus cross suggest a cytogenetic basis for Haldane's rule of hybrid sterility. Cytogenet Cell Genet 1993;63(4):221-34