Chromosome segregation from cell hybrids. I. The effect of parent cell ploidy on segregation from mouse-Chinese hamster hybrids.

To determine whether the dosage of some parental factor influences the direction and extent of chromosome segregation, I have constructed hybrids between polyploid series of mouse and Chinese hamster lines. The input ratio of mouse:hamster chromosomes varied from 3.3 (in hybrids between diploid hamster and polyploid mouse cells) and 0.9 (in hybrids between polyploid hamster and near-diploid mouse cells). Mouse chromosomes were retained and hamster chromosomes were lost from all hybrids with input ratios greater than or equal to 1.3; the extent of hamster chromosome loss increased from 25 to 60% as the proportion of mouse chromosomes was increased. Reverse segregation was observed in hybrids in which the ratio was 0.9; hybrids between polyploid hamster and diploid mouse cells retained most hamster chromosomes and lost 52% of mouse chromosomes. I conclude that the direction and extent of chromosome segregation from these hybrids depends on the dosage of some factor contained in the parent cells; because the volumes of polyploid cells are proportional to chromosome number, this factor could be chromosomal, nuclear, or cytoplasmic. Dosage differences should therefore be considered when comparing chromosome segregation from hybrids with cells of the same species combination, but which might differ in chromosome number (e.g., diploid lines and established lines), or cell volume (e.g., cells from different tissues).