Cytological basis of sterility in male and female hybrids between sibling species of grey voles Microtus arvalis and M. levis.

ABSTRACT: To make insight into the cytological basis of reproductive isolation, we examined chromosome synapsis and recombination in sterile male and female hybrids between Microtus arvalis and M. levis. These sibling species differ by a series of chromosomal rearrangements (fusions, inversions, centromere shifts and heterochromatin insertions). We found that meiosis in male hybrids was arrested at leptotene with complete failure of chromosome pairing and DNA double-strand breaks repair. In the female hybrids meiosis proceeded to pachytene; however, the oocytes varied in the degree of pairing errors. Some of them demonstrated almost correct chromosome pairing, while most of them contained a varying number of univalents and multivalents with extensive regions of asynapsis and non-homologous synapsis.

SUBMITTER: Torgasheva AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5109913 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature