Summary: © The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/98/04/5/16 $2.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 141, Number 1, April 6, 1998 5­20
http://www.jcb.org 5
Homologous Chromosome Pairing in Drosophila melanogaster
Proceeds through Multiple Independent Initiations
Jennifer C. Fung,* Wallace F. Marshall,
Abby Dernburg,
David A. Agard,
and John W. Sedat
*Graduate Group in Biophysics and
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco,
California 94143-0554; and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, San Franciso, California 94143
Abstract. The dynamics by which homologous chro-
mosomes pair is currently unknown. Here, we use fluo-
rescence in situ hybridization in combination with
three-dimensional optical microscopy to show that ho-
mologous pairing of the somatic chromosome arm 2L
in Drosophila occurs by independent initiation of pair-
ing at discrete loci rather than by a processive zippering
of sites along the length of chromosome. By evaluating

Source: Agard, David - Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco

Collections: Biotechnology; Biology and Medicine