A chromosomal basis for the differential organization of a porcine centromere-specific repeat

Digestion of porcine DNA with the restriction enzymes SnoI and BamHI and subsequent gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of a repeat fragment of approximately 340 bp in length. When this fragment was cloned and used to probe a Southern blot containing pig DNA that had been digested with various enzymes, a ladder pattern of bands based on a unit of 340 bp was observed. Three individual BamHI repeat units were sequenced; each monomer unit was approximately 90% identical in sequence to the other two monomers. Double digestion did not alter the ladder pattern, indicating a differential distribution of restriction enzyme sites within the repeat family. We demonstrate by Southern blotting of DNAs from a panel of pig x rodent hybrid cell lines that the differential restriction site distribution has a chromosomal basis. We show that this repeat family hybridizes to the centromeres of all pig chromosomes other than the Y chromosome. However, when stringency was raised, hybridization persisted only to certain metacentric chromosomes.