Chromosomal fragile site expression in dogs: I. Breed specific differences.

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from clinically normal Doberman pinscher and boxer dogs were cultured for folate-sensitive and, in preliminary studies, aphidicolin-inducible fragile site expression. Both autosomal and X chromosomal fragile sites were observed in canine cells cultured under folate/thymidine depletion and in cells cultured in medium containing aphidicolin. Results from the three dogs evaluated for both folate-sensitive and aphidicolin-inducible fragile site expression showed that the frequency of fragile site expression was significantly (P less than 0.05) greater in cells cultured in medium containing aphidicolin than in cells cultured in folate/thymidine-depleted medium. Cells from the boxer dog expressed a high percentage (66.67%) of aphidicolin-inducible fragile sites in contrast to the Doberman pinscher dog in which only 21.10% of the lymphocytes expressed aphidicolin-inducible fragile sites. The frequencies of spontaneous and folate-sensitive fragile site expression did not vary significantly by breed of dog. Age of dog was significantly and positively correlated with frequency of folate-sensitive fragile site expression in dogs of the boxer breed, but not in dogs of the Doberman pinscher breed. The dog X chromosome expressed three folate-sensitive and aphidicolin-inducible fragile sites. The G-band location of these three fragile sites showed homology with three recognized constitutive common fragile sites on the human X chromosome: Xp22, Xq21, and Xq27.2. Two specific autosomal fragile sites were identified, one on the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 1 and one on the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 8. Other autosomal fragile sites were also apparent but could not be assigned reliably to specific chromosomes.