Patterns of microchromosome organization remain highly conserved throughout avian evolution

The structure and organization of a species genome at a karyotypic level, and in interphase nuclei, have broad functional significance. Although regular sized chromosomes are studied extensively in this regard, microchromosomes, which are present in many terrestrial vertebrates, remain poorly explored. Birds have more cytologically indistinguishable microchromosomes (~ 30 pairs) than other vertebrates; however, the degree to which genome organization patterns at a karyotypic and interphase level differ between species is unknown. In species where microchromosomes have fused to other chromosomes, they retain genomic features such as gene density and GC content; however, the extent to which they retain a central nuclear position has not been investigated. In studying 22 avian species from 10 orders, we established that, other than in species where microchromosomal fusion is obvious (Falconiformes and Psittaciformes), there was no evidence of microchromosomal rearrangement, suggesting an evolutionarily stable avian genome (karyotypic) organization. Moreover, in species where microchromosomal fusion has occurred, they retain a central nuclear location, suggesting that the nuclear position of microchromosomes is a function of their genomic features rather than their physical size

Reconstruction of gross avian genome structure, organization and evolution suggests that the chicken lineage most closely resembles the dinosaur avian ancestor.

BACKGROUND: The availability of multiple avian genome sequence assemblies greatly improves our ability to define overall genome organization and reconstruct evolutionary changes. In birds, this has previously been impeded by a near intractable karyotype and relied almost exclusively on comparative molecular cytogenetics of only the largest chromosomes. Here, novel whole genome sequence information from 21 avian genome sequences (most newly assembled) made available on an interactive browser (Evolution Highway) was analyzed. RESULTS: Focusing on the six best-assembled genomes allowed us to assemble a putative karyotype of the dinosaur ancestor for each chromosome. Reconstructing evolutionary events that led to each species' genome organization, we determined that the fastest rate of change occurred in the zebra finch and budgerigar, consistent with rapid speciation events in the Passeriformes and Psittaciformes. Intra- and interchromosomal changes were explained most parsimoniously by a series of inversions and translocations respectively, with breakpoint reuse being commonplace. Analyzing chicken and zebra finch, we found little evidence to support the hypothesis of an association of evolutionary breakpoint regions with recombination hotspots but some evidence to support the hypothesis that microchromosomes largely represent conserved blocks of synteny in the majority of the 21 species analyzed. All but one species showed the expected number of microchromosomal rearrangements predicted by the haploid chromosome count. Ostrich, however, appeared to retain an overall karyotype structure of 2n=80 despite undergoing a large number (26) of hitherto un-described interchromosomal changes. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that mechanisms exist to preserve a static overall avian karyotype/genomic structure, including the microchromosomes, with widespread interchromosomal change occurring rarely (e.g., in ostrich and budgerigar lineages). Of the species analyzed, the chicken lineage appeared to have undergone the fewest changes compared to the dinosaur ancestor.The authors would like to thank Alain Vignal and Thomas Faraut of INRA Toulouse (France) for access to the duck chromosome assembly data. This research was funded in part by PL-Grid Infrastructure (DML), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/K008161 (DML, DKG), BB/K008226/1 (DML), BB/J010170/1 (DML, MF) and a knowledge transfer partnership award (DKG and Cytocell Ltd). The authors are grateful to Malcolm Ferguson-Smith’s lab (Cambridge, UK) for producing the flow-sorted chicken microchromosome paints. We also thank Cytocell Ltd (Cambridge, UK) for technical support in FISH technologies.This article was originally published in BMC Genomics 2014, 15:1060 doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-106

Factors affecting chromosome copy number and nuclear organisation in human sperm and embryos

Chromosome copy number aberrations are a leading cause of birth defects, stillbirths, pregnancy loss and infertility. Every human male has a proportion of chromosomally abnormal sperm however conditions such as infertility, cancer, cancer treatments, and environmental factors can increase this. Chromosome abnormality is commonplace in human embryos and one reason for the development of the controversial preimplantation genetic screening CPOS). Factors such as embryo quality and maternal age are cornmon correlates. Appropriate nucleus positioning of chromosome territories is also though to be indicative of a "healthy" nucleus with aberrations in such nuclear organization associated with disease. The purpose of this study was to provide insight into the relationship between chromosome copy number, nuclear organization and various aetiological factors in human sperm and early stage embryos. Specifically. • To investigate the nuclear positioning oftelomeric and sub telomeric region in sperm cells and test the hypothesis that such organisation is altered in infertile males. • To investigate the nuclear positioning of centromeric and locus specific regions of 5 chromosomes in sperm cells from males undergoing chemotherapeutic treatment for testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma and test the hypothesis that either the cancer, or its treatment significantly alters patterns of nuclear organization. • To analyse FISH based PGS and "follow up" in 250 treatment cycles to investigate levels of aneuploidy false negative and positive results, also well as effects of different indications such as maternal age. • To investigate the levels of aneuploidy for all 24 chromosomes using a newly developed multicolour FISH technique. To test hypotheses that factors e.g. maternal age and embryo morphology significantly effect levels, and that day 3 and day 5 results are concordant. • To assess levels nuclear organisation of human embryos for loci on all 24 chromosomes and their relationship to maternal age, day 3 and day 5 embryo morphology. Overall, results provide some evidence for differences in nuclear organisation in infertile males compared to controls for telomeric but not sub-telorneric loci. Effects of cancer (testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma) and chemotherapy were subtle at best with one testicular cancer patient showing a significant difference compared to controls. In embryos, monosomy appeared more common that trisomy and effects of maternal age and embryo quality were apparent when a small subset of chromosomes were analysed. Similar analysis with a 24 FISH assay confirmed monosomy/trisomy ratios however failed to show significant relationship with maternal age and embryo morphology, thereby raising questions about the reliability of the technique. Finally comparison of various parameters and nuclear organization revealed consistent alterations of the position of specific centromeres (e.g. for chromosomes 3 and 4). In conclusion, FISH is now clearly old technology for PGS but has great potential for the analysis of mosaicism and nuclear organisation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Factors affecting chromosome copy number and nuclear organisation in human sperm and embryos

Chromosome copy number aberrations are a leading cause of birth defects, stillbirths, pregnancy loss and infertility. Every human male has a proportion of chromosomally abnormal sperm however conditions such as infertility, cancer, cancer treatments, and environmental factors can increase this. Chromosome abnormality is commonplace in human embryos and one reason for the development of the controversial preimplantation genetic screening CPOS). Factors such as embryo quality and maternal age are common correlates. Appropriate nucleus positioning of chromosome territories is also though to be indicative of a "healthy" nucleus with aberrations in such nuclear organization associated with disease. The purpose of this study was to provide insight into the relationship between chromosome copy number, nuclear organization and various aetiological factors in human sperm and early stage embryos. Specifically. • To investigate the nuclear positioning of telomeric and sub telomeric region in sperm cells and test the hypothesis that such organisation is altered in infertile males. • To investigate the nuclear positioning of centromeric and locus specific regions of 5 chromosomes in sperm cells from males undergoing chemotherapeutic treatment for testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma and test the hypothesis that either the cancer, or its treatment significantly alters patterns of nuclear organization. • To analyse FISH based PGS and "follow up" in 250 treatment cycles to investigate levels of aneuploidy false negative and positive results, also well as effects of different indications such as maternal age. • To investigate the levels of aneuploidy for all 24 chromosomes using a newly developed multicolour FISH technique. To test hypotheses that factors e.g. maternal age and embryo morphology significantly effect levels, and that day 3 and day 5 results are concordant. • To assess levels nuclear organisation of human embryos for loci on all 24 chromosomes and their relationship to maternal age, day 3 and day 5 embryo morphology. Overall, results provide some evidence for differences in nuclear organisation in infertile males compared to controls for telomeric but not sub-telorneric loci. Effects of cancer (testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma) and chemotherapy were subtle at best with one testicular cancer patient showing a significant difference compared to controls. In embryos, monosomy appeared more common that trisomy and effects of maternal age and embryo quality were apparent when a small subset of chromosomes were analysed. Similar analysis with a 24 FISH assay confirmed monosomy/trisomy ratios however failed to show significant relationship with maternal age and embryo morphology, thereby raising questions about the reliability of the technique. Finally comparison of various parameters and nuclear organization revealed consistent alterations of the position of specific centromeres (e.g. for chromosomes 3 and 4). In conclusion, FISH is now clearly old technology for PGS but has great potential for the analysis of mosaicism and nuclear organisation

Multicolor detection of every chromosome as a means of detecting mosaicism and nuclear organization in human embryonic nuclei.

Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) revolutionized cytogenetics using fluorescently labelled probes with high affinity with target (nuclear) DNA. By the early 1990s FISH was adopted as a means of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) sexing for couples at risk of transmitting X-linked disorders and later for detection of unbalanced translocations. Following a rise in popularity of PGD by FISH for sexing and the availability of multicolor probes (5-8 colors), the use of FISH was expanded to the detection of aneuploidy and selective implantation of embryos more likely to be euploid, the rationale being to increase pregnancy rates (referral categories were typically advanced maternal age, repeated IVF failure, repeated miscarriage or severe male factor infertility). Despite initial reports of an increase in implantation rates, reduction in trisomic offspring and spontaneous abortions criticism centered around experimental design (including lack of randomization), inadequate control groups and lack of report on live births. Eleven randomized control trials (RCTs) (2004-2010) showed that preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) with FISH did not increase delivery rates with some demonstrating adverse outcomes. These RCTs, parallel improvements in culturing and cryopreservation and a shift to blastocyst biopsy essentially outdated FISH as a tool for PGS and it has now been replaced by newer technologies (array CGH, SNP arrays, qRT-PCR and NGS). Cell-by-cell follow up analysis of individual blastomeres in non-transferred embryos is however usually prohibitively expensive by these new approaches and thus FISH remains an invaluable resource for the study of mosaicism and nuclear organization. We thus developed the approach described herein for the FISH detection of chromosome copy number of all 24 human chromosomes. This approach involves 4 sequential layers of hybridization, each with 6 spectrally distinct fluorochromes and a bespoke capturing system. Here we report previously published studies and hitherto unreported data indicating that 24 chromosome FISH is a useful tool for studying chromosome mosaicism, one of the most hotly debated topics currently in preimplantation genetics. Our results suggest that mosaic embryo aneuploidy is not highly significantly correlated to maternal age, probably due, in part, to the large preponderance of post-zygotic (mitotic) errors. Chromosome loss (anaphase lag) appears to be the most common mechanism, followed by chromosome gain (endoreduplication), however 3:1 mitotic non-disjunction of chromosomes appears to be rare. Nuclear organization (i.e. the spatial and temporal topology of chromosomes or sub-chromosomal compartments) studies indicate that human morula or blastocyst embryos (days 4-5) appear to adopt a "chromocentric" pattern (i.e. almost all centromeric signals reside in the innermost regions of the nuclear volume). By the blastocyst stage however, a more ordered organization with spatial and temporal cues important for embryo development appears. We have however found no association between aneuploidy and nuclear organization using this approach despite our earlier studies. In conclusion, while FISH is mostly "dead and buried" for mainstream PGS, it still has a place for basic biology studies; the development of a 24 chromosome protocol extends the power of this analysis

Patterns of microchromosome organization remain highly conserved throughout avian evolution.

The structure and organization of a species genome at a karyotypic level, and in interphase nuclei, have broad functional significance. Although regular sized chromosomes are studied extensively in this regard, microchromosomes, which are present in many terrestrial vertebrates, remain poorly explored. Birds have more cytologically indistinguishable microchromosomes (~ 30 pairs) than other vertebrates; however, the degree to which genome organization patterns at a karyotypic and interphase level differ between species is unknown. In species where microchromosomes have fused to other chromosomes, they retain genomic features such as gene density and GC content; however, the extent to which they retain a central nuclear position has not been investigated. In studying 22 avian species from 10 orders, we established that, other than in species where microchromosomal fusion is obvious (Falconiformes and Psittaciformes), there was no evidence of microchromosomal rearrangement, suggesting an evolutionarily stable avian genome (karyotypic) organization. Moreover, in species where microchromosomal fusion has occurred, they retain a central nuclear location, suggesting that the nuclear position of microchromosomes is a function of their genomic features rather than their physical size

Nuclear organisation in totipotent human nuclei and its relationship to chromosomal abnormality

Studies of nuclear organisation, most commonly determining the nuclear location of chromosome territories and individual loci, have furthered our understanding of nuclear function, differentiation and disease. In this study, by examining eight loci on different chromosomes, we tested hypotheses that: (1) totipotent human blastomeres adopt a nuclear organisation akin to that of committed cells; (2) nuclear organisation is different in chromosomally abnormal blastomeres; and (3) human blastomeres adopt a ;chromocentre' pattern. Analysis of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) conceptuses permits valuable insight into the cell biology of totipotent human nuclei. Here, extrapolations from images of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) cases were used to make comparisons between totipotent blastomeres and several committed cells, showing some differences and similarities. Comparisons between chromosomally abnormal nuclei and those with no detected abnormality (NDA) suggest that the former display a significant non-random pattern for all autosomal loci, but there is a less distinct, possibly random, pattern in 'NDA' nuclei. No evidence was found that the presence of an extra chromosome is accompanied by an altered nuclear location for that chromosome. Centromeric loci on chromosomes 15 and 16 normally seen at the nuclear periphery were mostly centrally located in aneuploid cells, providing some evidence of a 'chromocentre'; however, the chromosome-18 centromere was more peripheral, similar to committed cells. Our results provide clues to the nature of totipotency in human cells and might have future applications for preimplantation diagnosis and nuclear transfer

Avian cytogenetics goes functional

Chromosomes (and sub-chromosomal homologous synteny blocks (HSBs)) have great significance in molecular studies of genome evolution. In birds, our ability to define chromosomes and HSBs precisely has however been impeded by a near intractable karyotype and so has focused primarily on comparative molecular cytogenetics (zoo-FISH) of the largest chromosomes (1-10+Z). Availability of multiple avian genome sequence assemblies has however allowed us, for the first time, to identify chromosomal syntenies across species. In recent work we made use of comparative maps for 20+ avian genome assemblies (plus out-groups) and presented them on “Evolution Highway” an open-access, interactive freely available comparative chromosome browser designed to store and visualize comparative chromosome maps. This browser (http://evolutionhighway.ncsa.uiuc.edu) visualizes comparative genome organization and identifies different types of evolutionary breakpoint regions (EBRs) in chromosomes, e.g., lineage specific, ordinal, superordinal, and reuse. Comparative analysis of all available genomes provides insight into the mechanisms of chromosome change through correlation of EBRs with transposable elements and non-allelic homologous recombination. Gene ontology analysis is revealing interesting correlations with avian specific phenotype and function. Focus on six genomes (chicken, turkey, duck, zebra finch, ostrich, budgerigar) with the large N50s and supporting molecular cytogenetic data, allowed us to assemble a putative ancestral avian karyotype and identify key changes that led to the gross genome organization of representatives in the major avian clades (Palaeognathae, Galliformes, Anseriformes, Neoaves). We describe numerous inter-chromosomal rearrangements in a Paleoganthaeous bird (the ostrich), plus rearrangements in the budgerigar (Psattaciformes) and 15 other species. Intra-chromosomal evolutionary change can be derived, most parsimoniously, by a series of inversions, inter-chromosomal rearrangements by fissions/fusions. Increased chromosome rearrangement is associated with differentiation in certain clades, with most intrachromosomal changes (mostly inversions) occurring in the zebra finch (Passeriformes) since its divergence from its sister group, the Psittaciformes 54MYA, This is coincident with the evolution of passerine-specific phenotypes e.g. vocal learning. Results also suggest that the Galloanserae (especially chicken) underwent the fewest changes compared to the ancestral karyotype; notably these birds appear, from fossil evidence, to be the most similar to ancient avian ancestors