Relationship of mouse minor satellite DNA to centromere activity

Chromosomes from a female mouse cell line were identified by Q-banding prior to in situ hybridization with 3H-labeled mouse minor satellite (satellite II) DNA. No cell was found in which every chromosome was labeled, but grain counts showed that every active centromeric region had minor satellite sequences. In the mouse T (10;13)199H translocation, the breakpoint was within the minor satellite array, leaving clusters of minor satellite at the C-bandless active centromere of the 13(10) chromosome and at the interstitial C-band of the 10(13) chromosome, which is not associated with centromeric activity. In a mouse A9 (L-cell derived) marker chromosome with one terminal and two interstitial C-bands, only the terminal C-band was adjacent to an active centromere, but minor satellite DNA was present at all three sites. Minor satellite DNA was not detected on the Y chromosome, although the presence of a small amount of divergent satellite sequences on this chromosome could not be ruled out.