Several mechanisms can lead to the reorganization of genomes during speciation, including centromere repositioning, new centromere emergence or other chromosomal rearrangements. Using a comparative karyotype approach, I determined that the vervet genome contains at least 12 evolutionary young centromere locations. / To study the evolutionary dynamics of centromere formation, I identified and validated the alpha-satellite repeat as a centromere-specific marker in the vervet using comparative genomics, sequence analysis and hybridization screening. I developed criteria to infer the position of vervet bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) inserts based on alpha-satellite monomer content. In a complementary approach, I demarcated the pericentromeric boundaries in human and identified vervet BAC clones that mapped orthologously to these regions. / In addition to centromeric analyses, I developed methodologies to detect other genome rearrangements, in particular vervet deletion/human insertion and vervet translocation events. The tools and approaches developed in this thesis will prove useful in cataloguing additional vervet genome rearrangements.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.101702 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Badhwar, AmanPreet. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Human Genetics.) |
| Rights | © AmanPreet Badhwar, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002585940, proquestno: AAIMR32815, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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