Abstract
Chromosome pairing at prophase I of meiosis was orderly in the common shrew. The frequency of univalance was low and nonhomologous pairing between bivalents or involving the sex trivalent (XY1Y2) was absent. The true X and Y chromosomes were attached in an end-to-end configuration. In “simple” Robertsonian heterozygotes autosomal trivalents were formed. Most of these (64 per cent) exhibited straight pairing. Otherwise, side arms were formed from the centromeric regions of the acrocentrics which were almost invariably in a cis orientation and usually paired with each other.
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Wallace, B., Searle, J. Synaptonemal complex studies of the common shrew (Sorex araneus). Comparison of Robertsonian heterozygotes and homozygotes by light microscopy. Heredity 65, 359–367 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1990.105
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1990.105
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