Centric fusion, satellite DNA, and DNA polarity in mouse chromosomes.

A fluorescent staining technique has demonstrated a contralateral arrangement of fluorescent spots in the centromeric region of mouse metacentric chromosomes which have resulted from centric fusion. The results suggest that centric fusion involves the maintenance of DNA polaritv through the centromere and that the thymidine-rich chain of satellite DNA in the centromeric region is associated with the same DNA chain in every mouse autosome.