CpG islands of chicken are concentrated on microchromosomes

被引:101
作者
McQueen, HA
Fantes, J
Cross, SH
Clark, VH
Archibald, AL
Bird, AP
机构
[1] WESTERN GEN HOSP,MRC,HUMAN GENET UNIT,EDINBURGH EH4 2XU,MIDLOTHIAN,SCOTLAND
[2] ROSLIN INST,EDINBURGH EH25 9PS,MIDLOTHIAN,SCOTLAND
关键词
D O I
10.1038/ng0396-321
中图分类号
Q3 [遗传学];
学科分类号
071007 ; 090102 ;
摘要
The chicken karyotype comprises 39 chromosome pairs of which at least 29 are 'microchromosomes'. Microchromosomes account for about 25% of the genomic DNA, but they are cytologically indistinguishable from one another. Due to technical limitations there is a strong bias of mapped genes within the chicken genome database ChickGBASE towards macrochromosomes 1-6 and Z, with specific assignments to only one microchromosome. Several genes have, however, been assigned to the microchromosome group as a whole, demonstrating that these tiny chromosomes do not represent genetically inert DNA. To determine the overall chromosomal distribution of genes, as well as to provide a mapping resource, we prepared a CpG island library from chicken using differential binding to a methyl-CpG binding column before and after de novo methylation. Surprisingly, we found that chicken CpG islands are highly concentrated on the microchromosomes, whereas macrochromosomes 1-6 are comparatively gene-poor by this assay. Our results raise the possibility that gene density on chicken microchromosomes approaches the maximum value known for vertebrates.
引用
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页码:321 / 324
页数:4
相关论文
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