Son-sire regression based heritability estimates of chiasma frequency, using T70H mouse translocation heterozygotes, and the relation between univalence, chiasma frequency and sperm production

Abstract

T(1;13)70H/+ translocation heretozygous mice were used for assessing heritability values for chiasma frequencies and the epididymal sperm count. The chiasma frequency estimates were based on 15 son-sire pairs, the translocation heterozygotes being maintained in a Swiss random-bred genetic background. The chiasma frequencies were scored separately for the T70H/+ derived multivalent, specific pairing segments within the multivalent and the remaining bivalents. Chiasma counts within these specified parts of the genome were positively correlated. The heritability estimates, significantly greater than zero, ranged from 0.78-0.98, depending on the chromosome segments included. These results indicate a strong genetic control on a cellular basis for the formation of chiasmata in the mouse. Despite significantly positive correlations and regressions between the various chiasma frequencies and the sperm count (for which 29 pairs of observations were available), no significant heritability estimate for the sperm count was obtained. The relation between the chiasma frequency and the sperm count was weakest when the chiasma count was confined to a region of the translocation-caused multivalent in which the absence of a chiasma almost always resulted in the production of an univalent. This indicates that in the translocation heterozygotes used, the overall chiasma frequency has a greater predictive value for the sperm count than autosomal univalence alone.