Fig. 5.

Possible mechanisms for interchromosomal exchanges between telocentric chromosomes. (A) Exchange of telocentric arms between nonhomologous chromosomes anywhere (dashed crosses) along the common unidirectional telocentric DNA drives p-tel sequence homogenization and maintains stability of the telocentric karyotype. (B) Occasional mispairing and exchange between sequence-related but oppositely oriented TLC and minor satellite repeat arrays result in the generation of a Rob chromosome and an acentric fragment that is subsequently lost.