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Mosaic paternal uniparental (iso)disomy for chromosome 20 associated with multiple anomalies.

Uniparental disomy for a number of human chromosomes is associated with clinical abnormalities. We report a child with a complex chromosomal rearrangement involving chromosome 20 (45,XY,psu dic (20;20)(p13;p13)) and paternal uniparental isodisomy for chromosome 20 in peripheral blood and bone marrow. This patient had multiple congenital abnormalities including microtia/anotia, micrencephaly, congenital heart disease, neuronal subependymal heterotopias, and colonic agangliosis. Molecular studies on DNA from peripheral blood demonstrated paternal uniparental inheritance of chromosome 20. However, fibroblasts demonstrated a mosaic karyotype, with one cell line having 45 chromosomes, including the pseudodicentric chromosome 20 (75% of cells), and a second cell line having 46 chromosomes, including the pseudodicentric chromosome 20, and a normal chromosome 20 (trisomy 20) (25% of cells). FISH experiments using a sub-telomeric probe that maps approximately 120 kb from the 20p telomere, showed that both copies of these sequences were present on the rearranged chromosome, consistent with deletion of a very small interval. This leads us to suggest that in addition to trisomy 20 mosaicism, paternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 20 could contribute to his clinical phenotype.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

Paternal isodisomy of chromosome 7 with cystic fibrosis and overgrowth.

We have diagnosed a boy with cystic fibrosis (CF) due to paternal UPD presenting with overweight and developmental delay, not typical features to CF patients. Two previously reported patients with paternal UPD(7) did not present overgrowth. The discrepancy between the phenotype of this boy and the other two patients raises the question of imprinted genes or homozygotization of a disease-causing gene in paternal UPD7.

Body Weight↗

No preferential loss of paternal 19q alleles in oligodendroglial tumors.

Recently, exclusive loss of paternal 19q alleles in six of six oligodendrogliomas has been reported, indicating that parental imprinting plays a role in these tumors. We examined a series of 10 oligodendrogliomas and 3 oligoastrocytomas with allelic losses on 1p and 19q for the parental origin of the lost alleles. Ten cases lost paternal 1p alleles and 3 cases lost maternal alleles. For 19q, six cases had loss of paternal alleles and seven cases of had loss of maternal alleles. These random distributions do not support the hypothesis that parental imprinting accounts for inactivation of the putative oligodendroglioma tumor suppressor genes.

Adult↗

Genotypes from patients indicate no paternal mitochondrial DNA contribution.

A cornerstone of mitochondrial genetics, strict maternal inheritance, has been challenged recently by the study of a patient with mitochondrial myopathy due to a sporadic 2bp deletion. The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) harboring the mutation was paternal in origin, whereas the patient's blood was identical to the maternal genotype. To determine whether this is a common phenomenon, we studied mtDNA sequence variation between muscle and blood from 35 patients with sporadic mitochondrial myopathies, but detected no evidence of paternal mtDNA transmission. Our findings suggest that paternal transmission of mtDNA is rare and should not alter our genetic advice to families.

DNA Mutational Analysis↗

Lack of paternal inheritance of muscle mitochondrial DNA in sporadic mitochondrial myopathies.

In 2002, paternal inheritance of muscle mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was reported in a patient with exercise intolerance and a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutation restricted to skeletal muscle. To evaluate whether paternal inheritance is a common phenomenon, we studied 10 sporadic patients with skeletal muscle-restricted mtDNA mutations: five harbored mtDNA point mutations in protein-coding genes and five had single mtDNA deletions. We performed haplotype analysis and direct sequencing of the hypervariable regions 1 and 2 of the D-loop in muscle and blood from the patients and, when available, in blood from their parents. We did not observe paternal inheritance in any of our patients.

DNA Mutational Analysis↗

Human mutagens: evidence from paternal exposure?

The importance of inherited mutations as a cause of human disease has been established clearly through examples of well-defined genetic anomalies, such as Down syndrome and retinoblastoma. Furthermore, it is suspected that environmental contaminants induce mutations resulting in increased risk for such defects in subsequent generations of persons exposed. The present lack of direct evidence for induced inherited genetic disorders in human beings hampers the development of risk estimation techniques for extrapolation from animal models. The most extensive prospective epidemiologic studies of inherited genetic effects have involved survivors of atomic bomb detonations and patients treated with cancer chemotherapy. In neither case has a significant elevation in inherited genetic effects or cancer been detected in the offspring of exposed individuals. Epidemiologic studies of subjects receiving chronic exposure may be confounded by the effect of maternal exposure during pregnancy. Consideration of only paternal exposure can minimize the confounding influence of teratogenicity, enhancing the resolving power of studies for inherited effects. Using this approach, retrospective (case-control) studies of childhood cancer patients have provided limited but suggestive evidence for inheritance of induced effects. Endpoints, such as congenital malformations and spontaneous abortion following paternal exposure, can also be considered as indicators of heritable mutagenic effects. For example, there is limited evidence suggesting that paternal exposure to anaesthetic gases may cause miscarriage and congenital abnormalities as a result of induced male germ cell mutations. By comparing male-exposure endpoints for which there are human data, as described above, with parallel or similar animal endpoints, such as dominant lethal, inherited cancer and "male teratogenic" effects, it is possible that suitable models for extrapolating to human risk can be developed. In order to establish a clearer relationship between induced mutation and genetic disease, the current surveillance systems should be expanded to include endpoints relevant to genetic study. The relaxation of regulations regarding access to census data could improve the chances of documenting such an association.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

An X-linked GFP transgene reveals unexpected paternal X-chromosome activity in trophoblastic giant cells of the mouse placenta.

A GFP transgene has been integrated on the proximal part of the mouse X chromosome just distal of Timp and Syn1. During development, this X-linked GFP transgene exhibits widespread green fluorescence throughout the embryonic and adult life of male mice but displays mosaic expression in tissues as a result of X-inactivation in females. In living female embryos, inactivation of the transgene is imprinted in extraembryonic regions and random in the embryo proper, demonstrating that this reporter is behaving in a similar fashion to the majority of X-linked loci, and so provides a vital readout of X chromosome activity. This is observation is further supported in T16H/X female mice harboring the GFP transgene on the normal X chromosome where reporter inactivation is observed in somatic cells. The differential expression of GFP activity facilitates fluorescence activated cell sorting for the purification of GFP+ vs. GFP- cells from female embryonic tissues, thereby allowing access to populations of cells that have kept active a particular X chromosome. By tracking the activity of this X-linked GFP transgene, we discovered that the primary and secondary giant cells of the X/X placenta maintain an active paternal copy of this transgene on the presumed silenced paternal X-chromosome. This finding implies that the imprint on the paternal X chromosome may be relaxed in these trophectodermal derivatives.

Animals↗

Nuclear protein changes in the maternally and paternally derived chromatin at fertilization.

The proteins which become associated with the paternally derived chromatin during fertilization may be instrumental in its activation and in the dramatic structural metamorphosis of the sperm nucleus during pronuclear development. Proteins associated with sperm and zygote nuclei and male and female pronuclei of fertilized sea urchin eggs were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in order to examine nuclear protein changes in the paternally and maternally derived chromatin following insemination. Results demonstrate major changes in both the solubility characteristics and polypeptide profiles of sperm nuclei upon insemination. Evidence is presented which indicates that at fertilization the paternally derived chromatin acquires proteins of molecular weights greater than 80,000 and a nuclear protein composition similar to that of the female pronucleus. The nuclear proteins associated with zygote nuclei were compared to those of combined male and female pronuclei and showed many similarities and some differences. Several polypeptides were present in zygote nuclei which were not observed in pronuclear extracts.

Animals↗

Onset of paternal gene activation in early mouse embryos fertilized with transgenic mouse sperm.

We investigated the onset of paternal gene expression in the early mouse embryo. We obtained transgenic mouse embryos by fertilizing BD (C57BL/6N x DBA) F1 hybrid female oocytes in vitro, with sperm from homozygous transgenic males carrying integrated chicken beta-actin promoter-driven firefly luciferase cDNA. We then examined the RNA and protein synthesis of the luciferase gene in embryos from the 1- to 2-cell stage. RNA transcripts of the luciferase gene were first detected in the 1-cell stage embryos as early as 13 hr postinsemination, just prior to elongation. By photon-count imaging, functional luciferase was identified at the 2-cell stage 23 hr postinsemination. These findings indicate that the paternal endogenous gene is already transcribed in the late 1-cell embryos, although paternally derived protein is not synthesized until the 2-cell stage. Therefore, these results suggest that the embryonic gene is activated as early as the late 1-cell stage.

Actins↗

A case of paternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 11.

We report a case of paternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 11 that presented as severe intrauterine growth retardation. Autopsy following intrauterine death also revealed aberrant intestinal rotation and hypospadias. Chromosome analysis of direct preparations from placental biopsy showed an abnormal 47,XY,+11 karyotype. Analysis of long-term cultures from the placenta revealed 46,XY/47,XY,+11 mosaicism. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies on interphase nuclei confirmed trisomy 11 in multiple placental sites but detected only disomic cells in fetal skin. Investigation using microsatellite polymorphisms demonstrated paternal isodisomy at loci D11S909, D11S956, and D11S488, and paternal heterodisomy at locus D11S928.

Adult↗

Paternal cyclophosphamide treatment causes postimplantation loss via inner cell mass-specific cell death.

Treatment of the father with the anticancer alkylating agent cyclophosphamide has negative effects on embryonic development in the rat. Four-week treatment of male rats with a low dose of cyclophosphamide causes a dramatic, dose-dependent increase in postimplantation death of the progeny. Several recent studies have indicated that the paternal genome is required for the development of the extraembryonic tissues. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine which tissues of the implanting embryo were affected by paternal exposure to cyclophosphamide. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given cyclophosphamide (6 mg/kg/day) or saline by gavage and bred to untreated female rats after 4 weeks of treatment. Pregnant female rats were killed on day 7 of gestation, and implantation sites were dissected from the uterus, fixed, embedded in Epon for semithin serial sectioning, and stained for subsequent light microscopy. Strikingly, many of the implantation sites of affected embryos sired by treated males displayed an apparently normal trophectoderm enclosing a region of dying cells, containing dark-stained pyknotic nuclei. Very few or no inner cell mass-derived embryonic cells were present in these implantation sites. Therefore, there is a selective death of inner cell mass-derived cells in day 7 implantation sites obtained from the progeny of cyclophosphamide-treated males. The results of this study suggest that treatment of the male with cyclophosphamide can affect paternal genes specifically required for development of the inner cell mass cells of the embryo, without an apparent effect on those genes required for normal trophectoderm.

Animals↗

Sexual selection resulting from extrapair paternity in collared flycatchers.

Extrapair paternity has been suggested to represent a potentially important source of sexual selection on male secondary sexual characters, particularly in birds with predominantly socially monogamous mating systems. However, relatively few studies have demonstrated sexual selection within single species by this mechanism, and there have been few attempts to assess the importance of extrapair paternity in relation to other mechanisms of sexual selection. We report estimates of sexual selection gradients on male secondary sexual plumage characters resulting from extrapair paternity in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis, and compare the importance of this form of sexual selection with that resulting from variation in mate fecundity. Microsatellite genotyping revealed that 15% of nestlings, distributed nonrandomly among 33% of broods (N=79), were the result of extrapair copulations. Multivariate selection analyses revealed significant positive directional sexual selection on two uncorrelated secondary sexual characters in males (forehead and wing patch size) when fledgling number was used as the measure of fitness. When number of offspring recruiting to the breeding population was used as the measure of male fitness, selection on these traits appeared to be directional and stabilizing, respectively. Pairwise comparisons of cuckolded and cuckolding males revealed that males that sired young through extrapair copulations had wider forehead patches, and were paired to females that bred earlier, than the males that they cuckolded. Path analysis was used to partition selection on these traits into pathways via mate fecundity and sperm competition, and suggested that the sperm competition pathway accounted for between 64 and 90% of the total sexual selection via the two paths. The selection revealed in these analyses is relatively weak in comparison with many other measures of selection in natural populations. We offer some explanations for the relatively weak selection detected. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

Synchronous polyandry and multiple paternity in the frog Crinia georgiana (Anura: Myobatrachidae).

Multiple paternity has rarely been reported in anuran amphibians, with only three previous documented examples. For the Australian frog Crinia georgiana, we observed synchronous polyandry in an average of 44% of matings observed at four field sites. This suggests matings involving more than one male are common in this species. One to eight males were observed in amplectant groups with second males amplexed ventrally. Genetic analyses, using allozyme electrophoresis, of offspring from two matings indicated that at least two of three possible males fathered offspring. Third males were unlikely to have shared paternity, explained by their inappropriate position during amplexus. Multiple paternity may be more common in frogs than has been reported. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

Territoriality as a paternity guard in the European robin, Erithacus rubecula.

To investigate the relative importance of paternity defences in the European robin we used behavioural observations, simulated intrusions and temporary male removal experiments. Given that paired males did not increase their mate attendance, copulation rate or territory size during the female's fertile period, the most frequently quoted paternity assurance strategies in birds were absent. However, males with fertile females sang and patrolled their territories more regularly, suggesting that territorial motivation and vigilance were elevated when the risk of cuckoldry was greatest. In addition, there was a significant effect of breeding period on response to simulated intrusions: residents approached and attacked freeze-dried mounts more readily in the fertile period. During 90-min removals of the pair male in the fertile period, neighbours trespassed more frequently relative to prefertile and fertile period controls and appeared to seek copulations with unattended females. When replaced on their territories, males immediately increased both song rate and patrolling rate in comparison with controls. We propose that male robins sing to signal their presence, and increase their territorial vigilance and aggression in the fertile period to protect paternity. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗

The paternal effect gene ms(3)sneaky is required for sperm activation and the initiation of embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Although a large number of maternal factors are known to be essential for fertilization or the earliest stages of embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster, the role of paternally supplied products is not clearly understood. Paternal effect mutations provide a means to identify factors specifically required by the sperm after its entry into the egg. Here we describe the third strict paternal effect gene to be identified in Drosophila ms(3)sneaky(snky), which defines the earliest developmental arrest phenotype so far described. Characterization of two independently isolated snky mutations showed that they affected male fertility, but not viability or female fertility. Cytological analyses showed that spermatogenesis proceeded normally in snky males. However, the snky defect was evident after sperm entry into the egg; snky sperm did not undergo nuclear decondensation, form a functional male pronucleus, or initiate mitotic divisions in the egg. Immunolocalization of tubulin and Drosophila Centrosomin, a known centrosomal component, showed that snky-inseminated eggs failed to reconstitute a microtubule-organizing center. In addition, snky sperm chromatin retained the histochemical properties of mature sperm chromatin for several hours after sperm entry, showed reduced staining with membrane-impermeant nuclear dyes, and failed to replicate. We conclude that the snky+ product is required for the initial response of the sperm to cytoplasmic cues in the egg and for the subsequent initiation of embryogenesis in Drosophila. We suggest that all of the snky defects can be explained by the failure of the sperm plasma membrane to break down after entry into the egg.

Animals↗

A de novo unbalanced reciprocal translocation identified as paternal in origin in the Prader-Willi syndrome.

Interstitial cytogenetic deletions involving the paternally derived chromosome 15q11-13 have been described in patients with the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). We report a child with PWS and a de novo unbalanced karyotype -45,XY,-9,-15,+der(9)t(9;15)(q34;q13). Molecular studies with the DNA probe pML34 confirmed that only a single Prader Willi critical region (PWCR:15q11.2-q12) copy was present. Hybridisation of patient and parental DNA with the multi-allelic probe CMW1, which maps to pter-15q13, showed that the chromosome involved in the translocation was paternal in origin. This is the first example of a paternally-derived PWCR allele loss caused by an unbalanced translocation that has arisen de novo.

Blotting, Southern↗

Direct selection for paternal inheritance of chloroplasts in sexual progeny of Nicotiana.

The response of Nicotiana tabacum to tentoxin (chlorosis) is inherited with chloroplasts. N. tabacum var. Xanthi, a tentoxin-resistant line, was used to pollinate tentoxin-sensitive N. tabacum line 92, an alloplasmic male-sterile line containing N. undulata plastids. The seeds were mutagenized with nitrosomethylurea and germinated in the presence of tentoxin. Two percent of the seedlings had green sectors in their first true leaves. These plants were grown to maturity under non-selective conditions. Homogeneous tentoxin-resistant lines were obtained in the third generation. DNA analysis indicated, however, that selection for paternal plastids, rather than mutagenesis of maternal ones, had occurred in the tentoxin-resistant progeny. Mitochondria, which were not under selection pressure, were inherited maternally as expected. Inheritance of tentoxin-resistant paternal plastids did not require seed mutagenesis. Normally germinated seedlings that were kept under tentoxin selection consistently produced a low level of resistant green sectors in their first true leaves. Thus, normal, low-frequency transmission of paternal plastids in N. tabacum can be directly revealed by using tentoxin.

Chloroplasts↗

Paternal inheritance of plastids in interspecific hybrids of the genus Actinidia revealed by PCR-amplification of chloroplast DNA fragments.

RFLPs (restriction fragment length polymorphisms) of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) -amplified fragments were used to trace the pattern of plastid DNA inheritance in the genus Actinidia. A total of 51 progeny originating from interspecific crosses between three A. arguta cultivars and A. deliciosa, the kiwifruit, and 12 progeny originating from the cross between A. kolomikta and A. chinensis were analysed together with their parents. No reciprocal crosses could be tested since they all failed to set viable seeds. Attempts to rescue immature embryos failed in all cases as well. The A. argutaXA. deliciosa crosses were checked for the RFLP patterns of a sequence encoding part of the Rubisco large subunit (rbcL), using either AluI or MseI, and for a sequence encoding part of the photosystem II D1 protein (psbA), using HinfI. The A. kolomiktaXA. chinensis cross was checked for the RFLP patterns of sequences encoding the spacers between trnT and the 5'-trnL exon (a-b spacer DNA) and the trnL 3' exon and trnF (e-f spacer DNA), respectively. The first spacer revealed a natural polymorphism between the two parent species due to a large deletion occurring in A. kolomikta detectable without further restriction enzyme treatment. The e-f spacer DNA was digested with HinfI. The comparison of the RFLP patterns in the parents and their progeny showed a strictly paternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA in Actinidia, with no exception found in any of the crosses examined. As the reciprocal crosses were not available, we do not know whether paternal inheritance of plastids is restricted to the crosses we analysed or if this is the general rule for plastid inheritance in the genus Actinidia. Actinidia is dioecious and is the first purely outbreeding species for which a paternal plastid inheritance has so far been documented.

Base Sequence↗