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. 1991 Jul 15;88(14):6191–6195. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.14.6191

The Barr body is a looped X chromosome formed by telomere association.

C L Walker 1, C B Cargile 1, K M Floy 1, M Delannoy 1, B R Migeon 1
PMCID: PMC52048  PMID: 1712482

Abstract

We examined Barr bodies formed by isodicentric human X chromosomes in cultured human cells and in mouse-human hybrids using confocal microscopy and DNA probes for centromere and subtelomere regions. At interphase, the two ends of these chromosomes are only a micron apart, indicating that these inactive X chromosomes are in a nonlinear configuration. Additional studies of normal X chromosomes reveal the same telomere association for the inactive X but not for the active X chromosome. This nonlinear configuration is maintained during mitosis and in a murine environment.

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