Chromosoma (Beck) 6i, 345-358 (1977)
CHROMOSOMA
9 by Springer-Verlag 1977
The Location of DNA Homologous
to Human Satellite III DNA in the Chromosomes
of Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes),
Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and Orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus)
A.R. Mitchell, H.N. Seuanez, Sandra S. Lawrie, D.E. Martin 1
and J.R. Gosden
Medical Research Council Clinical and Population Cytogenetics Unit, Western General Hospital,
Crewe Road Edinburgh, EH42XU, Scotland; 1Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
Abstract. Radioactive R N A with sequences complementary to human DNA
satellite III was hybridised in situ to metaphase chromosomes of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), the gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the orangutan (Pongo
pygmaeus). A quantitative analysis of the radioactivity, and hence of the
chromosomal distribution of human D N A satellite III equivalent sequences
in the great apes, was undertaken, and the results compared with interspecies
chromosome homologies based upon Giemsa banding patterns. In some instances D N A with sequence homology to human satellite III is present on
the equivalent ( " h o m o l o g o u s " ) chromosomes in identical positions in two
or more species although quantitative differences are observed. In other cases
there appears to be no correspondence between satellite D N A location and
chromosome homology determined by banding patterns. These results differ
from those found for most transcribed D N A sequences where the same
sequence is located on homologous chromosomes in each species.
Introduction
The extent of the homology between man and his closest living relatives, the
great apes, is a subject of great interest for biology. In the recent past, these
relationships have been studied at the level of the protein sequence (Washburn,
1963; Dayhoff, 1972), antigenic similarity (King and Wilson, 1975) karyotype
homology (Dutrillaux, 1975), and D N A sequence homology (Kohne et al., 1972).
Protein sequencing has permitted the construction of possible phylogenetic trees
for specific proteins (Romero-Herrera et al., 1976), but, in general, differences
in protein sequence are relatively minor, and it has been proposed that evolution
has largely resulted from changes in regulatory genes and from chromosomal
rearrangements resulting in new gene combinations (Wilson et al., 1974).
346
A.R. Mitchell et al.
J o n e s et al., (1973) h a v e s h o w n t h a t o~ae o f t h e h i g h l y r e p e a t e d satellite D N A
s e q u e n c e s in m a n (satellite III) is p r e s e n t in t h e c h r o m o s o m e s o f the g r e a t apes.
T h i s i n d i c a t e s t h a t s u c h s e q u e n c e s m a y be c o n s e r v e d d u r i n g s p e c i a t i o n a n d it
is t h e r e f o r e i m p o r t a n t to e s t a b l i s h t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h h u m a n satellite D N A
s e q u e n c e s a r e p r e s e n t in the g r e a t apes, a n d to r e l a t e p u t a t i v e c h r o m o s o m e h o m o logies to t h e specific c h r o m o s o m a l d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e s e satellite D N A s .
W e h a v e d e v e l o p e d a t e c h n i q u e o f in situ h y b r i d i s a t i o n w h i c h p r o v i d e s a
n o n - s u b j e c t i v e m e t h o d o f s e l e c t i n g h y b r i d i s e d cells f o r a n a l y s i s ; p o s i t i v e a n d
u n e q u i v o c a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f e v e r y c h r o m o s o m e in the h y b r i d i s e d cells; a n d
a q u a n t i t a t i v e a n a l y s i s o f the d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e h y b r i d i s e d s e q u e n c e in the c h r o m o s o m e c o m p l e m e n t . U s i n g this a p p r o a c h we h a v e a l r e a d y e s t a b l i s h e d the c h r o m o s o m a l d i s t r i b u t i o n o f f o u r h u m a n D N A satellites in m a n ( G o s d e n et al.,
1975 a). I n t h e p r e s e n t p a p e r we d e s c r i b e the e x t e n s i o n o f o u r m e t h o d s to e x a m i n ing t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f o n e o f these h u m a n D N A s e q u e n c e s (satellite III) in
the c h r o m o s o m e s o f c h i m p a n z e e (Pan troglodytes), g o r i l l a (Gorilla gorilla) a n d
o r a n g u t a n (Pongo pygrnaeus).
Materials and Methods
a) Chromosomes of Gorilla, Pongo and Homo were prepared from peripheral blood lymphocyte
cuItures by the method of Evans et al., (1971). Chromosomes of Pan troglodytes were prepared
from fibroblasts in culture. The cultures were established from specimens taken at the post mortem
examination of a still-born male chimpanzee. Autopsy specimens from skin, muscle and fascia were
taken and immediately placed in sterile vessels containing Ham's F10 medium with 10% foetal
calf serum, 50 units/ml penicillin and 50gg/ml each streptomycin and fungizone. Each piece of
tissue was washed in Ham's F10 medium containing i0 times the above concentrations of penicillin,
streptomycin and fungizone. The tissue was placed in a sterile glass Petri dish, cut into small explants
with scalpels, and the explants were placed on the plane glass surface of 50 ml. sterile glass Beatson
medical bottles. Each explant was covered with 1:1 chick embryo extract:cock plasma, forming
a plasma clot. Ham's F 10 medium supplemented with 20 % foetal calf serum and containing penicillin
50 units/ml, streptomycin 50 gg/ml and fungizone 50 gg/ml, buffered with HEPES was then added
to the bottles, which were incubated at 37~ C.
When growth from the explants was established, they were trypsinised into fresh bottles, and
the concentration of foetal calf serum in the growth medium was reduced to 10%. Mitotic cells
were selectively harvested and chromosomes prepared as described by Bostock and Christie (1974).
b) Human DNA was prepared from fresh male placentae or HEp2 cells in culture by the method
described previously (Mitchell, 1974; Gosden and Mitchell, 1975). The source of DNA did not
appear to affect the result of the experiments.
c) Human DNA satellite III was purified and its complementary RNA (cRNAm) was prepared
essentially as described previously (Gosden et al., I975a), except that, following shearing of the
DNA (five passages through 25 gauge needle) the second centrifugation in Ag+/Cs2SO4could be
omitted. E. coli RNA polymerase was obtained from the Boehringer Corporation (London) Ltd;
3H-nucleoside triphosphates were obtained from the Radiochemical Centre, Amersham.
d) Slides were stained with quinacrine, suitable cells selected and photographed under a fluorescent
microscope and cell references recorded. In situ hybridisation was performed and autoradiographs
prepared as described previously (Gosden et al., 1975a and b). All slides were hybridised with aliquots
from the same preparation of cRNA m under identical conditions.
e) Following autoradiography, cells that had previously been selected under fluorescence were
re-located, photographed and chromosomes identified by reference to the fluorescence photographs.
347
Chromosomal Location of H u m a n Satellite III in the Hominoid Apes
Table 1
Chromosome Number of Segments
Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
X
Y
Homo sapiens
Gorillagorilla
Pan troglodytes
Pongo pygmaeus
11
10
8
8
7
7
6
6
6
6
6
5
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
6
2
7
7
7
7
6
6
4
5
5
5
5
5
6
5
5
4
4
5
4
3
3
2
2
5
3
7
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
4
3
3
2
2
2
5
1
7
6
6
5
5
5
4
5
4
5
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
5
2
Method of Analysis
The distribution of silver grains was analysed on photographic prints as described previously (Gosden
et al., 1975 a). Prints of fluorescent photographs and autoradiographs were arranged in dual karyotypes
(Fig. 1). Each chromosome was divided into a number of equal sized segments, the segment length
being approximately equal to half of the smallest chromosome (chromosome 22 in Homo, 23 in
apes). The number of segments into which each chromosome was divided is shown in Table 1.
The number of grains in each segment were counted in twenty or more cells, and the average
number was plotted as a histogram (Fig. 2). Where an area was saturated with grains, a grid with
the dimensions of average grain diameter (1.2 m m 2) was used to estimate the minimum number
of grains in the area.
The average number of grains above background on each chromosome was calculated as a
percentage of the average total number of grains per metaphase and this is shown in Table 2.
Results
It is immediately obvious from Figure 1 that much more cRNAm hybridised
to the chromosomes of the three ape species than to human chromosomes, and
this is confirmed by the mean grain count histograms shown in Figure 2. There
348
A.R. Mitchell et al.
o
~'~
~.~
O
~.~
are both more sites of hybridisation and more grains per hybridisation site in
each of the apes than in man.
The hybridisation of cRNAIn to human chromosomes gave results identical
to those previously published (see Table 1 in Gosden et al., 1975a). The major
sites of hybridisation are the four pairs of metacentric chromosomes (1, 5, 9
and 20), all the acrocentric chromosomes (13, 14, 15, 21 and 22), plus the Y
chromosome. In Pan troglodytes, six pairs of metacentric chromosomes (1, 6,
11, 18, 19 and 21) all the acrocentric chromosomes except chromosome 12 (that
is, chromosomes 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23) and the Y chromosome, hybridise
Chromosomal Location of Human Satellite III in the Hominoid Apes
349
(3
350
A.R. Mitchell et al.
9
with this cRNA. Gorilla gorilla has three pairs of metacentric chromosomes
which are labelled heavily (4, 17 and 18) while chromosome 1 shows a low
but consistent amount of label. All the acrocentric chromosomes except 11 and
22 are labelled (that is, chromosomes 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 23) together with
the Y chromosome. Pongo pygrnaeus shows little or no hybridisation with any
of the metacentric chromosomes, but all the acrocentric chromosomes except
chromosome 10 are labelled, together with the Y chromosome.
C h r o m o s o m a l L o c a t i o n o f H u m a n Satellite I I I in the H o m i n o i d A p e s
351
Table 2 shows the quantitative analysis of these results, with the ape chromosomes arranged show their presumptive homologies with human chromosomes.
This homology is based on patterns of chromosome banding and is that proposed
by the Paris Conference (1971) Supplement (1975).
Chromosome 1 has one of the most consistent banding patterns as between
the four species, almost the only variation lying in the presence of a pronounced
heterochromatic block and secondary constriction in the long arm of the human
homologue, and its absence in the great apes, reversing the relative arm lengths.
In man, this chromosome hybridises with a consistent small amount of cRNAm
at a site located at this heterochromatic (or C-band) site in the proximal part
of the long arm. In chimpanzee and gorilla, the proportion of total hybridisation
is similar to that in man, but the site of hybridisation includes the centromere
together with the adjacent region of the short arm (Seuanez et al., 1977) (homologous to the long arm in man).
Chromosome pair 2, which is metacentric in man, is represented by two
pairs of acrocentric chromosomes in the great apes. In Pan they are chromosomes
12 and 13, and in Gorilla and Pongo they are chromosomes 11 and 12. In man,
no highly repeated DNA has been detected in this chromosome (Gosden et al.,
1975a, b), but in chimpanzee and gorilla one of the two pairs o f acrocentrics,
and in orang utan both pairs, hybridise a considerable proportion of the total
cRNAm (Fig. 2, Table 2).
Human chromosomes 3 and 4 contain no detectable satellite III, nor do
their ape homologues, but human chromosome 5 (HSA51 in the nomenclature
of the Paris Conference (1971) Supplement (1975)) binds 1.4% of total cRNAm
hybridised, and of the ape chromosomes only its homologue in gorilla (GGO4)
binds a similar proportion.
HSA6 again contains no detectable satellite III, nor do any of its homologues
in the apes. HSA7 hybridises a very small proportion of this satellite; in contrast,
however, its homologue in the chimpanzee (PTR6) binds more cRNAm (13%
of the total hybridised cRNAn3 than any other chimpanzee chromosome except
the Y chromosome.
HSA8 binds no cRNAm, nor do its ape homologues (with the possible exception of PTR7, which is barely above the subjectively determined background).
In man, the main site of hybridisation with cRNA m is chromosome 9 (Gosden
et al., 1975a). Orang utan has no recognised homologue for HSA9, but in chimpanzee PTR11 is recognised as its homologue and this chromosome hybridises
a significant proportion of total cRNAm, though not such an outstanding proportion as in man. Gorilla has no recognised homologue for HSA9, but since GGO 18
is very similar to PTR 11, and hybridises with cRNAHI at its secondary constriction,
we are surprised that no homology is recognised by the Paris Conference (1971)
Supplement (1975).
HSAI0 hybridises a very small amount of cRNAIH, and its homologues in
chimpanzee and gorilla (PTR8 and GGO8) also have very few grains although
the homologue in the orang utan (PPY7) may be significantly labelled. HSA11
hybridises no cRNAm, nor do the gorilla and chimpanzee homologues, but label1
HSA =
Homo sapiens,
GGO =
Gorilla gorilla,
PTR =
Pan troglodytes,
PPY -
Pongo pygmaeus
352
A,R. Mitchell et al.
6 - -
E
5-4-3-2--
M~
E
e,-,
1
2
3
E
4
5
6
7
8
Chromosome number
r,e-
t'-
4-3-2--
10
11
12
13
a
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 21 22
X
Y
Chromosome number
10-9-8-7--
E
5-4-3-2-1-2
3
4
5
7
8
9
10
Chromosome number
E
r,-
b
16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-11
12
:' L:L::L
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21 22 23
X
u
Chromosome number
Fig. 2a-d. In situ hybridisat]on of human satellite [It cRNA on hominoid metapb-ase chromosomes.
Hybridisation is shown as the mean number of grains per chromosomal segment, a Man, b Chimpanzee, c Gorilla and d Orang utah
C h r o m o s o m a l L o c a t i o n of H u m a n Satellite I [ I ira the H o m i n o i d Apes
353
3--
2-o:,
1
4
3
2
5
8
8
7
9
10
Chromosome number
e,*,
11-10-9-
e.-,
E~
e.,.
"'
'r
7--
e,e3
.5-4--
3-2-1-11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 23
X
1
Chromosomenumber
2 -
E
1
2
3
e--
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Chromosome number
em
98-7654-
e-
1 11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 2t 22 23
X
Chromosome number
ling of the orang utah homologue (PPY8) is again definitely higher than background. HSA12 and its homologues show no hybridisation.
The first group of human acrocentric chromosomes (chromosome 13, 14
and 15) show increasing levels of hybridisation, with the result that chromosome
15 follows the 9 and Y chromosomes in the extent of hybridisation of cRNAxH.
In chimpanzee the three homologues to these acrocentric chromosomes are
PTR14, 15 and 16 and they show a similar relationship. In gorilla, however,
GGO14 and 15 (homologues of HSA 13 and 15; HSA14 has no homologue
in gorilla) hybridise similar high levels of cRNAnt, while in the orang utah a
reversal of the human situation occurs with PPY14 (which is the HSA 13 homologue) hybridising more cRNAm than either PPY15 or 16.
354
A.R. Mitchell et al.
Table 2. In situ hybridisation of human cRNAu~ with hominoid metaphase chromosomes
Human (HSA)
Chimpanzee (PTR)
Gorilla (GGO)
Orang utan (PPY)
Chrom. % HybridNo.
isation b
Chrom. % HybridNo. a
isation
Chrom. % HybridNo. a
isation
Chrom. % HybridNo. ~
isation
1
1.8
2
0
3
0
4
0
5
1.4
6
0
7
0.4
8
0
9
39.6
10
0.4
11
0
12
0
13
2.5
14
4.6
15
14.0
16
0
17
0.7
18
0
19
0
20
3.2
21
4.6
22
7.4
X
0
Y
19.7 .
No homologue
1
12, 13
2
3
4
5
6
7
ll
8
9
10
14
15
16
18
19
17
20
21
22
23
X
Y
a
b
c
and
2.0
1
0, 4.6 (0, 7.l) ~ 11, 12
0
2
0
3
0.2
4
0.2
5
13.0
6
0.5
7
10.3
{18}
0.6
8
0.4
9
0.3
10
1.5(6.1) ~
14
4.7
11.3
15
9.0
17
8.6
i9
6.2
16
0.1
20
3.0
21
7.4
22
1.3(3.5) c
23
0.8
X
13.7
Y
13
0,8
0, 9,5
0
0
1.6
0
0.2
0
12.8
0.1
0
0
12.9
15.4
10.4
0
10.2
0
0
0
1.7
0.5
12.7
11.7
1
11, 12
2
3
4
5
10
6
7
8
9
14
15
16
18
17
20
21
22
23
X
Y
13
19
0.7
9.0, 8.9
0.7
0.5
0.6
0.5
0.6
0.3
0.8
1.1
0.1(0.6) ~
9.5
6.8
6.6
0.3
8.7
0.2
0
6.9
8.2(11.2) ~
2.1
18.7
7.6
0.3
Chromosome homology taken from Paris Conference (Supplement) 1975
From Gosden et al., (1975a)
Figures in round brackets indicate pairs of chromosomes which show both heteromorphism
differential labelling
Of the E group chromosomes in man (HSA16, 17 and 18) only HSA17 shows
any hybridisation with cRNA m whereas in the chimpanzee all three of these
homologues (PTR18, 19 and 17) hybridise considerable amounts. In the gorilla
the HSA16 and 18 homologues (GGO17 and 16) show heavy labelling, but
GGO19 does not hybridise with cRNAn~ and the homologue of this chromosome
in the human complement (HSA17) is the only E group chromosome to hybridise
cRNAm. In the orang utan PPY17 (HSA18) is labelled but PPY18 (HSA16)
is not (there is no homologue for HSA17 in orang utan). In man, all three
E-group chromosomes are submetacentric. In chimpanzee PTR18 and 19 are
submetacentric, but PTR17 is acrocentric. In the gorilla the homologues also
consist of two submetacentrics, GGO17 (labelled) and GGO19 (unlabelled) and
one acrocentric, GGO16 (labelled), while in orang utan the labelled homologue
(PPY17) is acrocentric and the unlabelled (PPY18) is metacentric. It follows
Chromosomal Location of Human Satellite III in the HominoidApes
355
therefore that differences in the location of the centromere giving altered chromosome morphology do not appear to be associated with the presence or absence
of detectable satellite III.
HSA19 and its homologues show no hybridisation. HSA20 does hybridise
cRNAIn as does PTR21, but both the gorilla (GGO 21) and orang utan (PPY
21) homologues are unlabelled.
HSA21 and 22 are both heavily labelled, but in the apes, the respective homologues PTR22 and 23 are both labelled, PTR23 less so than 22; GGO22 is unlabelled,
GGO23 lightly labelled, and PPY22 and 23 are both heavily labelled.
The X chromosome shows slight, but apparently random, labelling in all
species, though this is above the selected background level in the apes. The
Y chromosome, however, is a major site of hybridisation in each species. In
man, it is second only to chromosome 9 in the amount of hybridisation seen,
and this hybridisation is restricted to the distal half of the long arm (the brilliantly
fluorescent region). In chimpanzee, although the Y chromosome is the smallest
chromosome in the complement it hybridises more cRNAIH than any other chromosome, despite the fact that unlike the human and gorilla Y it shows no brilliant
fluorescence. The gorilla Y chromosome exhibits brilliant fluorescence only at
the distal end of the long arm, but it can be seen that the whole of the Y
chromosome hybridises with c R N A m (Fig. 1 b). The orang utan Y chromosome
does not fluoresce brilliantly, but in this species also the Y chromosome contains
the major sites of hybridisation with cRNAm. There appear to be two distinct
sites of hybridisation in this chromosome: one pericentric, and the other just
below the middle of the long arm (see Fig. 1 c).
Discussion
The four species of Hominidae (Goodman, 1974) discussed in this paper share
many similar properties at gene and chromosome levels. Comparison of the
chromosome banding profiles indicates that the chromosome number (2n=46,
in man, 2 n = 4 8 in apes) may be taken as identical if HSA2 is equated with
two pairs of chromosomes in each of the apes. Most of the chromosomes of
man can be assigned a homologue in the three species of ape studied based
on Giemsa banding patterns. In some instances, for example chromosome 1,
banding profiles are extremely similar. In the case of the X chromosome the
banding patterns are identical (Paris Conference (1971) Supplement (1975)). The
use of hybrid cell lines has shown that this homology at the chromosome and
chromosome band level may be extended to the existence of identical genes
on homologous chromosomes. Finaz et al. (1975) using hybrid cells, have assigned
the location of loci coding for twelve enzymes in man, to the respective homologous chimpanzee chromosomes and Rebourcet et al., (1975) have shown that
the loci for pyrophosphate hydrase, phosphoglucomutase, and peptidase-C are
on chromosome 1 of both man and chimpanzee.
Using the technique of in situ hybridisation, we have shown that the chromosomes of Pan, Pongo and Gorilla contain a simple sequence highly repetitive D N A
which is able to form a stable hybrid with c R N A molecules transcribed from
human satellite III D N A sequences. Our results, therefore extend the earlier
356
A.R. Mitchell etal.
work of Jones et al., (1972) who detected hybridisation of cRNAm on the autosomal chromosomes of the chimpanzee and orang utan.
In many cases, where a human chromosome hybridises with cRNAI~ sequences
so also do the ape homologues of that chromosome. This is true of the human
acrocentric chromosomes HSA 13, 14, 15, 21 and 22 (with the exception of GGO22,
homologous to HSA21, in which no hybridisation is seen). In these instances
the difference between homologues, with the exception of GGO22, is simply
one of amount of hybridisation and at some sites (for example chromosome 1)
the difference is no more than that found in the range of phenotypically
normal variants in man (Evans et al., 1974; Gosden et al., 1975 a).
In other cases, the presence of satellite III DNA in an ape chromosome
and its absence from the human homologue may be a consequence of the loss
of satellite DNA during chromosome evolution. HSA18, for example, is a submetacentric chromosome with no detectable satellite III sequences; it is homologous
with PTR17, GGO16 and PPY17 all of which are acrocentric chromosomes
with long C-banded regions above the centromere which hybridise with cRNAm.
Such a rearrangement, resulting in a change from an acrocentric to a submetacentric could result in the loss of repeated DNA from the short arm centromere
region. Rearrangements of this kind have been envisaged by Hatch et al., (1976)
as playing an important role in karyotypic evolution in certain species of Dipodomys. Telomeric fusion of the type believed to have occurred in the evolution
of HSA2 con result in the loss of repeated D N A in human chromosomes (Gosden
et al., in preparation). There are some chromosomes where both human and
ape homologues are metacentric, yet hybridisation is seen in the ape chromosome
and little or none in the human; e.g. HSA7 has very little hybridisation yet
PTR6 is second only to PTRY in the amount of hybridisation seen in Pan
troglodytes. A second example is HSA16: this does not hybridise any cRNAm
whilst both PTR18 and GGO17 label heavily, though PPY18 does not. In these
latter examples, therefore, it is impossible to relate chromosome homologies
based upon G-banding characteristics with the presence or absence of DNA
satellite III sequences on human chromosomes and their ape homologues. The
Y chromosome is very different in morphology, quinacrine fluorescence and
C-banding pattern in these four species yet in all four it hybridises very strongly
with cRNAnv This confirms that the correlation of chromosome homologies
based on morphology and banding patterns with satellite D N A content is not
consistenly possible (Seufinez et al., 1977). Our present results certainly do not
show a positive correlation between homologous chromosomes as defined by
banding techniques and satellite III DNA distribution.
Evidence from gene localisation (Finaz et al., 1975; Rebourcet et al., 1975)
supports the homologies based upon banding. Those repeated DNA sequences
which are known to produce transcriptional products i.e. the 5s and the large
R N A cistrons are also found in the higher apes to be located on homologous
chromosomes (Steffenson etal., 1974; Henderson etal., 1974, 1976). Since
sequences complementary to cRNA m are found on some non-homologous chromosomes in the apes and man it is possible that the amplification of the sequences
is controlled by a different process from that regulating the evolution of the
rest of the genome.
Chromosomal Location of Human Satellite III in the Hominoid Apes
357
The function of satellite DNAs is as yet unknown, although a number of
hypotheses have been advanced (Walker, 1971 ; Paul, 1972; Yunis and Yasmineh,
197l; Sutton, 1972). Recently Hatch et al., (1976) and Miklos and Nankivell
(1976) have proposed that satellite DNAs have a positive role to play in speciation.
By relating satellite D N A content with the chromosome karyology of species
within the genus Dipodomys Hatch et al., (1976) conclude that satellite D N A
is involved with chromosomal rearrangements which in turn may be implicated
in evolutionary change (Wilson et al., 1974). However, while Hatch et al., (1976)
find an increase in satellite D N A content associated with chromosome rearangements, we find that similar events in man and the hominoid apes are associated
with a reduction in satellite D N A content. Miklos and Nankivell (1976) suggest
that satellite DNAs in Atractomorpha species play a role in regulating the frequency and position of recombination events. Gosden et al. (1975a) concluded
that the absence of satellite D N A sequences from certain human chromosomes
seemed to rule out models of satellite D N A function in man requiring every
chromosome to contain some satellite sequences (e.g. meiotic pairing). Our
present results with the hominoid apes support this conclusion.
Acknowledgements. We would like thank Mrs. Judy Fletcher for preparing the slides of gorilla
and orang utan chromosomes, and Professor H.J. Evans for his advice and for criticism in the
preparation of this manuscript.
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Received January 25, 1977 / Accepted February 10, 1977 by J.G. Gall
Ready for press March 7, 1977