Marker chromosome 21 identified by microdissection and FISH.

A child without Down syndrome but with developmental delay, short stature, and autistic behavior was found to be mosaic 46,XX/47,XX,+mar(21) de novo. The marker was a small ring or dot-like chromosome. Microdissection of the marker was performed. The dissected fragments were biotinylated with sequence-independent PCR as a probe pool for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH results suggested an acrocentric origin of the marker. Subsequent FISH with alpha-satellite DNA probes for acrocentric chromosomes, and chromosome-specific 21 and 22 painting probes confirmed its origin from chromosome 21.