Mouse chromosome 6 in Rb translocations: consequences in singly and doubly heterozygous males.

Previously it has been shown that male mice heterozygous for the Rb(6.16) translocation show a transmission distortion of the segregants in resulting zygotes, particularly for sexually active animals (Aranha and Martin-DeLeon, 1991). Sperm bearing the translocation have an impaired fertilizing ability, compared to chromosomally normal sperm, and this dysfunction is potentiated in X-bearing cells leading to a sex ratio distortion. Since earlier data suggested that a deficiency of Chromosome 6 was associated with sperm dysfunction (Zackowski and Martin-DeLeon, 1989), the present study was designed to determine the uniqueness of the coupling of the distortions for the Rb(6.16) translocation and the effect of 0 and 2 copies of Chr 6 on sperm function. First cleavage metaphases, resulting from chromosomally normal females that were mated to sexually active or rested Rb(6.15) or Rb(2.8) heterozygous males, were sequentially G- and C-banded. For unaged sperm from sexually active Rb(6.15) males, cytogenetic analysis showed that the ratio of normal (90) to balanced (37) zygotes deviated significantly (P < 0.001) from 1:1, as did the sex ratio, 46X:81Y (P < 0.01). The latter distortion was related to a deficiency of X-bearing sperm with the translocation (8X:29Y). Both segregation and sex ratio distortions disappeared for aged sperm (69:50, 51X:68Y) and a contingency table showed that segregant type was related to sperm age (P < 0.05). For the Rb(2.8) the ratio of normal to balanced zygotes (65:46) was not significantly different from 1:1 for unaged sperm, and although the ratio from aged sperm was 62:39, there was no relationship between segregant type and sperm age (P > 0.05). There was also no sex ratio distortion for either unaged or aged sperm (P > 0.05). To generate zygotes with sperm complements containing 0 and 2 copies of Chr 6, males doubly heterozygous for Rb(6.16) and Rb(6.15) were mated to chromosomally normal females. No zygotes were recovered and the males were shown histologically to have azoospermia and spermatogenic arrest. The results support the conclusion that the presence of Chr 6 in Rb translocations specifically affects segregant and sex ratio distributions. They also indicate, that as the common arm in compound heterozygotes, this chromosome grossly affects spermatogenesis.

Segregation analysis of the mouse Rb(6.16) translocation in zygotes produced by heterozygous female carriers.

The segregation products in zygotes of females heterozygous for the mouse Rb(6.16) translocation were studied. Of 191 first-cleavage metaphase zygotes recovered from 16 females mated to chromosomally normal males, 132 were cytogenetically analyzed after sequential G- and C-banding. There were no products of adjacent segregation, since the six chromosomal imbalances were unrelated to the translocation. Alternate segregation was seen in 126 (95.5%) of the zygotes, with 85 being chromosomally normal and 41 carrying the translocation. These results indicate preferential alternate segregation and a significant deviation from the Mendelian 1:1 ratio (P < 0.005) for reciprocal alternate segregants, as seen earlier for males with this translocation. However, the approximately 2:1 ratio for normal-to-balanced segregants in females is lower than the ratios consistently seen for males. This supports the notion that there are different underlying causes of the distortion in the sexes.

Evidence for differential maturation of reciprocal sperm segregants in the murine Rb(6.16) translocation heterozygote.

The fertilizing ability of unaged sperm and those aged experimentally in the cauda by surgically ligating the corpus epididymis in males carrying the Rb(6.16) translocation was studied. Chromosomally normal females were inseminated with unaged sperm delivered by males mating at 3-day intervals, and aged sperm were studied after matings on 6-14 postoperative days. The sperm chromosome complement was analyzed in first-cleavage metaphase zygotes after sequential G- and C-banding of the chromosomes. Of 283 metaphasic zygotes in the control group, 183 (or 64.7%) were analyzed and showed a ratio of 2.7:1 for chromosomally normal and balanced segregants of the translocation, deviating significantly (P less than 0.001) from the expected 1:1. The ratio of X- to Y-bearing sperm also deviated from expected (P less than 0.01) mostly due to a significant deficiency (P less than 0.05) of balanced sperm that were X-bearing. Fertilized oocytes were recovered from matings of 10 males on days 6-8 postoperatively, and, of 139 metaphasic one-cell zygotes, 101 (or 72.3%) were analyzed. These showed a Mendelian ratio of 1:1 for normal and balanced segregants. The sex ratio in the aged group (57Y:41X) also showed no deviation from 1:1. The results, which reveal significant physiological distortions for both the segregation and the sex ratios in males heterozygous for the Rb(6.16) translocation, suggest that differential maturation of the translocation-bearing sperm and the chromosomally normal reciprocal exists. The findings further support the concept that sperm chromosomal complement affects their maturation and function, and that factors on chromosome 6 and the X or Y chromosome additively affect sperm function.

The murine Rb(6.16) translocation: evidence for sperm selection and a modulating effect of aging.

The segregation products of the Rb(6.16) translocation were studied at first cleavage metaphase. Male mice heterozygous for the translocation mated at 3- and 14-day intervals to superovulated random-bred ICR females. Chromosome preparations of the recovered one-cell embryos were sequentially G- and C-banded and male and female complements analyzed cytogenetically. Of the 309 zygotes analyzed from both mating groups, no unbalanced segregants of the translocation were observed. In the 3-day group there was a highly significant difference (P less than 0.001) from the expected 1:1 ratio between sperm with normal (70.5%) and balanced segregants (26.2%) of alternate segregation. In the 14-day group the level of significance for the difference was ten times lower (P less than 0.01) as normal segregants were observed in 56.4% of the sperm and balanced ones in 36.5%. A comparison of the two groups using a 2 x 2 contingency table showed that segregant type was related to mating frequency (P less than 0.05). There was a highly significant distortion (P less than 0.01) of the sex ratio, with 178 Y-bearing and 131 X-bearing sperm in the combined populations. When sex ratio was analyzed according to mating intervals, the distortion was significant (P less than 0.01) only for the 3-day group. An analysis of the sex ratio according to the segregant type showed no significant deviation from 1:1 for type 1 segregants, which had normal chromosomes, while type 2 segregants, with the translocation, had a deficiency of X-bearing sperm. This deficiency was significant (P less than 0.05) only for the 3-day population. Analysis of meiotic preparations showed no association between the translocation trivalent and the X-Y bivalent. Our results, obtained under physiological conditions, provide definitive evidence for sperm selection and support previous findings that aging of sperm can modify the effect of selection.