title: Organization and chromosomal specificity of autosomal homologs of human Y chromosome repeated DNA.
abstract: The human Y chromosome contains a group of repeated DNA elements, identified as 3.4-kilobase pair (kb) fragments in Hae III digests of male genomic DNA, which contain both Y-specific and non-Y-specific sequences. We have used these 3.4-kb Hae III Y fragments to explore the organizational properties and chromosomal distribution of the autosomal homologs of the non-Y-specific (NYS) 3.4-kb Hae III Y elements. Three distinct organizations, termed domains, have been identified and shown to have major concentrations on separate chromosomes. We have established that domain K is located on chromosome 15 and domain D on chromosome 16 and suggested that domain R is on chromosome 1. Our findings suggest that each domain is composed of a tandemly arrayed cluster of a regularly repeating unit containing two sets of repeated sequences: one that is homologous to the NYS 3.4-kb Hae III Y sequences and one that does not cross-react with the 3.4-kb Hae III Y repeats. Thus, these autosomal repeated DNA domains, like their Y chromosome counterparts, consist of a complex mixture of repeated DNA elements interspersed among each other in ways that lead to defined periodicities. Although each of the three identified autosomal domains cross-reacts with 3.4-kb Hae III Y fragments purified from genomic DNA, the length periodicities and sequence content of the autosomal domains are chromosome specific. The organizational properties and chromosomal distribution of these NYS 3.4-kb Hae III homologs seem inconsistent with stochastic mechanisms of sequence diffusion between chromosomes.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Burk
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000032:analysis; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006822:Hybrid Cells / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012737:Sex Factors; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes