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The structure and behavior of the nucleolus organizers in mammalian cells

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Abstract

The regularly occurring secondary constrictions on metaphase chromosomes of mammalian cells prove to be nucleolus organizers as expected. The expression of nucleolus organizers as secondary constrictions, however, varies from cell to cell and from tissue to tissue, including cultivation in vitro. Electron micrographs of the organizer region show that the nucleolus organizer at metaphase is not a constriction. The width of the organizer area is the same as the condensed chromosomal arms; but the filaments, which are the major components of this region, show a diameter of 50–70 Å. The condensed chromosome arms consist of filaments 150–200 Å in diameter. In some mammalian species, structures similar to the nucleolus organizer are located at the end of chromosomes. These may be terminal nucleolus organizers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Cytology, Department of Biology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas

    T. C. Hsu, B. R. Brinkley & F. E. Arrighi

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  1. T. C. Hsu
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  2. B. R. Brinkley
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  3. F. E. Arrighi
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Additional information

Supported in part by Research Grants DRG-269 from Damon Runyon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research, E-286 from American Cancer Society, and HD-2590 from National Institutes of Health.

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Hsu, T.C., Brinkley, B.R. & Arrighi, F.E. The structure and behavior of the nucleolus organizers in mammalian cells. Chromosoma 23, 137–153 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331109

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00331109

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