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Analysis ofDrosophila chromosome4 using pulsed field gel electrophoresis

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Abstract

Previous estimates of the size ofDrosophila melanogaster chromosome4 have indicated that it is 1% to 4% of the genome or ∼6 Mb. We have used pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to separate megabase-sized molecules ofD. melanogaster chromosomal DNA. Southern blots of these gels were probed with DNA fragments from thecubitus interruptus andzfh-2 genes, which are located on chromosome4. They each identify the same-sized distinct band that migrates at approximately 5.2 Mb in DNA preparations from the Kc cell line. We interpret this band to be intact chromosome4. In DNA obtained from embryos of variousD. melanogaster wild-type strains, this chromosome band showed strain-specific size variation that ranged from 4.5 to 5.2 Mb. TheD. melanogaster chromosome4 probes also identified a single, 2.4 Mb band in embryonic DNA fromDrosophila simulans. We conclude thatD. simulans chromosome4 is substantially smaller than that ofD. melanogaster, presumably owing to diffirences in the amount of heterochromatic DNA sequences. Our simple DNA preparation from embryos and PFGE conditions should permit preparative isolation of chromosome4 DNA and will facilitate the molecular mapping of this chromosome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, University of Alberta, T6G 2E9, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    John Locke & Heather E. McDermid

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  1. John Locke
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  2. Heather E. McDermid
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Communicated by: A.C. Spradling

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Locke, J., McDermid, H.E. Analysis ofDrosophila chromosome4 using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Chromosoma 102, 718–723 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00650898

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00650898

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