Highly conserved linkage homology between birds and turtles: bird and turtle chromosomes are precise counterparts of each other.

The karyotypes of birds, turtles and snakes are characterized by two distinct chromosomal components, macrochromosomes and microchromosomes. This close karyological relationship between birds and reptiles has long been a topic of speculation among cytogeneticists and evolutionary biologists; however, there is scarcely any evidence for orthology at the molecular level. To define the conserved chromosome synteny among humans, chickens and reptiles and the process of genome evolution in the amniotes, we constructed comparative cytogenetic maps of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) and the Japanese four-striped rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata) using cDNA clones of reptile functional genes.

Mili, a mammalian member of piwi family gene, is essential for spermatogenesis.

The piwi family genes, which are defined by conserved PAZ and Piwi domains, play important roles in stem cell self-renewal, RNA silencing, and translational regulation in various organisms. To reveal the function of the mammalian homolog of piwi, we produced and analyzed mice with targeted mutations in the Mili gene, which is one of three mouse homologs of piwi. Spermatogenesis in the MILI-null mice was blocked completely at the early prophase of the first meiosis, from the zygotene to early pachytene, and the mice were sterile.

Molecular characterization of the Pb recombination hotspot in the mouse major histocompatibility complex class II region.

In the mouse major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II region, meiotic recombination breakpoints are clustered in four specific sites known as hotspots. Here we reveal the primary structure of a hotspot near the Pb gene. A total of 12 crossover points were found to be confined to a 15-kb DNA segment of the Pb pseudogene.