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The External Forces Acting on Chromosomes

Abstract

ACCORDING to Darlington1, in somatic mitosis or meiosis, ” the equilibrium position reached at metaphase maybe described as the result of the combination of three kinds of repulsion acting on bodies in the confined space of the spindle”, the repulsions being between chromosomes, between spindle attachments, and between poles and spindle attachments. If therefore at the first metaphase of meiosis there should exist two kinds of bivalents the different shapes or sizes of which cause the spindle attachments of the component chromosomes to be farther apart in one kind than in the other, we should expect the former type of bivalent to be pushed to the edge of the plate.

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References

  1. C. D. Darlington, ” Recent Advances in Cytology”. J. & A. Churchill, London, 1932.

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FYFE, J. The External Forces Acting on Chromosomes. Nature 138, 366 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138366a0

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