Chromosome organization during male meiosis in Bombyx mori

Abstract

Chromatin organization during male meiosis in Bombyx mori has been investigated utilizing the Miller spreading procedure. During meiotic prophase, the linear 200–300 Å chromatin fibers evident at interphase are folded into tandem arrays of approximately 7,000 loops per haploid genome. Adjacent loops visualized during early prophase are separated by 0.15–0.2 nm of nucleosomal DNA. Meiotic metaphase chromosomes display numerous loops which project radially from the central region of the chromosome suggesting that the loop conformation of prophase is maintained throughout meiosis. Spread preparations of spermatogenic stages through pachytene allow the visualization of actively transcribed ribosomal DNA. Throughout this period, these transcription units appear to be organized into loops in such a way that one active transcription unit exists on a single loop. Furthermore, there are various levels of transcription on different ribosomal loops, although the number of loops displaying active transcription remains constant throughout this period.