Time course study of the chromosome-type breakage-fusion-bridge cycle in maize

The B chromosome of maize has been used in a study of dicentric chromosomes. TB-9Sb is a translocation between the B and chromosome 9. The B-9 of TB-9Sb carries 60% of the short arm of 9. For construction of dicentrics, a modified B-9 chromosome was used, B-9-Dp9. It consists of the B-9 chromosome plus a duplicated 9S region attached to the distal end. In meiosis, fold-back pairing and crossing over in the duplicated region gives a chromatid-type dicentric B-9 that subsequently initiates a chromatid-type breakage-fusion-bridge cycle. In the male, it forms a single bridge in anaphase II of meiosis and at the first pollen mitosis. However, the cycle is interrupted by nondisjunction of the B centromere at the second pollen mitosis, which sends the B-9 dicentric to one pole and converts it from a chromatid dicentric to a chromosome dicentric. As expected, the new dicentric undergoes the chromosome-type breakage-fusion-bridge cycle and produces double bridges. A large number of plants with chromosome dicentrics were produced in this way. The presence of double bridges in the root cells of plants with a chromosome dicentric was studied during the first 10 wk of development. It was found that the number of plants and cells showing double bridges declined steadily over the 10-wk period. Several lines of evidence indicate that there was no specific developmental time for dicentric loss. "Healing" of broken chromosomes produced by dicentric breakage accounted for much of the dicentric loss. Healing produced a wide range of derived B-9 chromosomes, some large and some small. A group of minichromosomes found in these experiments probably represents the small end of the scale for B-9 derivatives.