Asynchronous DNA replication and asymmetrical chromosome loss in Chinese hamster-mouse somatic cell hybrids

A number of parameters were measured in a series of 12 hybrid cell clones from Chinese hamster and mouse cells to test the hypothesis that asymmetrical chromosome loss may result from asynchrony in the replication of the two parental sets of chromosomes. All clones tended to lose telocentric (mouse) chromosomes with culture time, irrespective of the starting ratio of parental chromosomes, and in all clones, biarmed (hamster) chromosomes appeared to complete DNA replication slightly earlier than telocentrics. However, no quantitative correlation could be established between the degree of asynchrony in chromosome DNA replication and the extent of chromosome loss. It appeared that telocentric chromosomes were lost more readily from those clones which started with a high hamster-to-mouse chromosome ratio.