[Chronology of the replication of sex chromosome bands in lymphocytes of normal subjects and patients]

Abstract

The replication sequence of the bands carried by chromosomes X and Y has been studied in normal individuals and in patients with structural abnormalities of the X. By comparing the segment with that of the autosomal bands (which had been previously studied), it was shown that the normal early X replicates in early X-phase for its R-bands and in late S-phase for its Q bands. The late X replicates entirely in late S-phase, and the sequence of band replication is not as stringent as for the early X and the autosomes. The study of fourteen cases of anomalies of chromosome X in females showed the following: in balanced reciprocal X-autosome translocations the rearranged X most often replicates early and the normal X late. Both show a normal replication sequence of their bands. In non-balanced X-autosome translocations, inactivation of the autosome fragment attached to the AUTOSOME FRAGMENT ATTACHED TO THE X may take place. In Xq- or in ter rea (X;X) (pter;pter), band p22 has a delayed replication. In iso-Xor Xp-, the long-arm-band sequence of replication shows a variation comparable to that of the late X in fibroblasts. These replication modifications are likely to induce partial inactivations or changes in activity which correspond to the so-called position effect in Drosophila.