Abstract
Two female-specific repetitive DNA units, the 0.4 kb PstI and 0.5 kb TaqI sequences, were detected in the genomic DNA of turkey and pheasant, respectively, by Southern blot hybridization under non-stringent conditions with the W chromosome-specific 0.7 kb XhoI repetitive unit of chicken as a probe. Cloning and sequencing of these two repetitive units revealed that they shared features with the XhoI family repetitive unit of chicken although the overall similarities of the nucleotide sequences were less than 60%. In common with the chicken XhoI family they consisted of tandem repeats of about 21 bp, the majority of which contained (A)3–5 and (T)3–5 clusters separated by six or seven relatively G+C-rich sequences, and they behaved as bent DNA molecules on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at room temperature. W-protein, purified from chicken liver nuclei and shown to bind with high affinity to the XhoI family repetitive unit, also bound with the cloned repetitive units from turkey and pheasant. DNase I footprint analysis suggested that the mode of interaction of W-protein with these units was similar to that with the 0.7 kb XhoI sequence. On the other hand, W-protein did not bind to the female-specific 0.4 kb BamHI repetitive unit from the Bobwhite quail. The 0.4 kb BamHI sequence contained some A and T clusters but these clusters did not appear in phase with the pitch of DNA helix and the repetitive unit did not show DNA bending.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bonner TI, Brenner DJ, Neufeld BR, Britten RJ (1973) Reduction in the rate of DNA reassociation by sequence divergence. J Mol Biol 81:123–135
Diekman S (1987) Temperature and salt dependence of the gel migration anomaly of curved DNA fragments. Nucleic Acids Res 15:247–265
Dretzen G, Bellard M, Sassone-Corsi P, Chambon P (1981) A reliable method for the recovery of DNA fragments from agarose and acrylamide gels. Anal Biochem 112:295–298
Feinberg AP, Vogelstein B (1983) A technique for radiolabeling DNA restriction endonuclease fragments to high specific activity. Anal Biochem 132:6–13
Hagerman PJ (1985) Sequence dependence of the curvature of DNA. A test of the phasing hypothesis. Biochemistry 24:7033–7037
Harata M, Ouchi K, Ohata S, Kikuchi A, Mizuno S (1988) Purification and characterization of W-protein. A DNA-binding protein showing high affinity for the W chromosome-specific repetitive DNA sequences of chicken. J Biol Chem 263:13952–13961
Harr R, Hagblom P, Gustafsson P (1982) Two-dimensional graphic analysis of DNA sequence homologies. Nucleic Acids Res 10:365–374
Kodama H, Saitoh H, Tone M, Kuhara S, Sakaki Y, Mizuno S (1987) Nucleotide sequences and unusual electrophoretic behavior of the W chromosome-specific repeating DNA units of the domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus. Chromosoma 96:18–25
Koo H-S, Wu H-M, Crothers DM (1986) DNA bending at adenine-thymine tracts. Nature 320:501–506
Maxam AM, Gilbert W (1980) Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol 65:499–560
Meinkoth J, Wahl G (1984) Hybridization of nucleic acids immobilized on solid supports. Anal Biochem 138:267–284
Mizuno S, Saitoh H, Harata M (1988) High affinity binding of W-protein to the bent, repetitive DNA sequences from avian W chromosomes. J Cell Biol 107:313a
Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulson AR (1977) DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74:5463–5467
Shapiro HS (1968) Deoxyribonucleic acid content per cell of various organisms. In: Sober HA (ed) Handbook of biochemistry. Selected data for molecular biology. CRC, Cleveland, H-57
Tone M, Nakano N, Takao E, Narisawa S, Mizuno S (1982) Demonstration of W chromosome-specific repetitive DNA sequences in the domestic fowl, Gallus g. domesticus. Chromosoma 86:551–569
Tone M, Sakaki Y, Hashiguchi T, Mizuno S (1984) Genus specificity and extensive methylation of the W chromosome-specific repetitive DNA sequences from the domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus. Chromosoma 89:228–237
Vieira J, Messing J (1987) Production of single-stranded plasmid DNA. Methods Enzymol 153:3–11
Wieslander L (1979) A simple method to recover intact high molecular weight RNA and DNA after electrophoretic separation in low gelling temperature agarose gels. Anal Biochem 98:305–309
Wu H-M, Crothers DM (1984) The locus of sequence-directed and protein-induced DNA bending. Nature 308:509–513
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Saitoh, H., Harata, M. & Mizuno, S. Presence of female-specific bent-repetitive DNA sequences in the genomes of turkey and pheasant and their interactions with W-protein of chicken. Chromosoma 98, 250–258 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327310
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327310