Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1974 Dec;71(12):4778–4782. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.12.4778

The Three-Dimensional Organization of the Amplified Ribosomal DNA Complex in Acheta

A Lima-De-Faria 1
PMCID: PMC433980  PMID: 4531017

Abstract

The major chromomere of pachytene chromosome 6 in the oocytes of Acheta (Orthoptera) is a region of amplification for ribosomal RNA cistrons (28 S and 18 S). This chromomere was isolated and studied with the scanning electron microscope. It has an outer shell that is smooth at early stages but divides into polygonal plates as indentations appear on its surface. These indentations increase in number as the DNA copies separate from each other and as the ribosomal RNA synthesis progresses. The vertices of the polygonal plates coincide with the positions at which the DNA copies reach the surface of the chromomere during their “puffing” process. The combined information gained from scanning and transmission electron microscopy, DNA measurements, DNA·RNA hybridization, and cytochemistry, leads to a three-dimensional picture of the organization of the amplified ribosomal DNA in its association with ribosomal RNA and protein.

Keywords: chromomere organization, gene amplification, scanning electron microscopy, ribosomal RNA

Full text

PDF
4778

Images in this article

4779Image
on p.4779
4780Image
on p.4780
4781Image
on p.4781

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bird A., Rogers E., Birnstiel M. Is gene amplification RNA-directed? Nat New Biol. 1973 Apr 25;242(121):226–230. doi: 10.1038/newbio242226a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Birnstiel M., Speirs J., Purdom I., Jones K., Loening U. E. Properties and composition of the isolated ribosomal DNA satellite of Xenopus laevis. Nature. 1968 Aug 3;219(5153):454–463. doi: 10.1038/219454a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brown D. D., Dawid I. B. Specific gene amplification in oocytes. Oocyte nuclei contain extrachromosomal replicas of the genes for ribosomal RNA. Science. 1968 Apr 19;160(3825):272–280. doi: 10.1126/science.160.3825.272. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cave M. D. Localization of ribosomal DNA within oocytes of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). J Cell Biol. 1972 Nov;55(2):310–321. doi: 10.1083/jcb.55.2.310. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Crippa M., Tocchini-Valentini G. P. Synthesis of amplified DNA that codes for ribosomal RNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 Nov;68(11):2769–2773. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.11.2769. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dawid I. B., Brown D. D., Reeder R. H. Composition and structure of chromosomal and amplified ribosomal DNA's of Xenopus laevis. J Mol Biol. 1970 Jul 28;51(2):341–360. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90147-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gall J. G. Differential synthesis of the genes for ribosomal RNA during amphibian oögenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1968 Jun;60(2):553–560. doi: 10.1073/pnas.60.2.553. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gall J. G., Pardue M. L. Formation and detection of RNA-DNA hybrid molecules in cytological preparations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Jun;63(2):378–383. doi: 10.1073/pnas.63.2.378. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lima-De-Faria A., Birnstiel M., Jaworska H. Amplication of ribosomal cistrons in the heterochromatin of acheta. Genetics. 1969;61(1 Suppl):145–159. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lima-De-Faria A., Jaworska H., Gustafsson T. Release of amplified ribosomal DNA from the chromomeres of Acheta. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Jan;70(1):80–83. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.1.80. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lima-de-Faria A., Daskaloff S., Enell A. Amplification of ribosomal DNA in Acheta. I. The number of chromomeres involved in the amplification process. Hereditas. 1973;73(1):99–118. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1973.tb01072.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lima-de-Faria A., Gustafsson T., Jaworska H. Amplification of ribosomal DNA in Acheta. II. The number of nucleotide pairs of the chromosomes and chromomeres involved in amplification. Hereditas. 1973;73(1):119–142. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lima-de-Faria A., Jaworska H., Gustafsson T., Daskaloff S. Amplification of ribosomal DNA in Acheta. 3. The release of DNA copies from chromomeres. Hereditas. 1973;73(2):163–184. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1973.tb01080.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lima-de-Faria A., Nilsson B., Cave D., Puga A., Jaworska H. Tritium labelling and cytochemistry of extra DNA in Acheta. Chromosoma. 1968;25(1):1–20. doi: 10.1007/BF00338230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lima-de-Faria A. The molecular organization of the chromomeres of Acheta involved in ribosomal DNA amplification. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1974;38:559–571. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1974.038.01.060. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Miller O. L., Jr, Beatty B. R. Portrait of a gene. J Cell Physiol. 1969 Oct;74(2 Suppl):225+–225+. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1040740424. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pero R., Lima-de-Faria A., Stahle U., Granström H., Ghatnekar R. Amplification of ribosomal DNA in Acheta. IV. The number of cistrons for 28S and 18S ribosomal RNA. Hereditas. 1973;73(2):195–210. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1973.tb01082.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Trendelenburg M. F., Scheer U., Franke W. W. Structural organization of the transcription of ribosomal DNA in oocytes of the house cricket. Nat New Biol. 1973 Oct 10;245(145):167–170. doi: 10.1038/newbio245167a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ullman J. S., Lima-de-Faria A., Jaworska H., Bryngelsson T. Amplification of ribosomal DNA in Acheta. V. Hybridization of RNA complementary to ribosomal DNA with pachytene chromosomes. Hereditas. 1973;74(1):13–24. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1973.tb01100.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES