Recently five patients with an Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO)-like phenotype were reported to have a subtelomeric deletion of the long arm of chromosome 2. These patients showed a striking resemblance to a number of patients from a large pedigree known to us for a long time. After molecular confirmation of a subtelomeric deletion in one patient, FISH analysis was used and a cryptic tr...

In recent years, subtelomeric rearrangements have been identified as a major cause of mental retardation and/or malformation syndromes. So far, over 2500 subjects with mental retardation have been tested and reported of whom approximately 5% appeared to have a subtelomeric rearrangement. In this review, the clinical aspects of each known (submicroscopic) subtelomeric deletion will be presented ...

Subtelomeric domains immediately adjacent to telomeres represent one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving regions in eukaryotic genomes. A common feature associated with subtelomeric regions in different eukaryotes is the presence of long arrays of tandemly repeated satellite sequences. However, studies on molecular organization and evolution of subtelomeric repeats are rare. We isolated tw...

Partner sites of 14q32 translocations found in B-cell malignancies were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones, Y20 and Y6, containing the human Ig heavy chain (IgH) gene locus. Y20 spans a 160-kb upstream and 40-kb downstream region of the JH segments on chromosome band 14q32.33. Y6 is 300-kb upstream of Y20, and spans a further 320...

The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and laboratory findings associated with a previously unreported unbalanced X;6 translocation. Physical examination, reproductive history and cytogenetic techniques were used to characterise a novel chromosomal anomaly associated with gonadal dysgenesis. A healthy non-dysmorphic 23 year-old phenotypic female with primary amenorrhea and infertili...

We report on a familial three way translocation involving chromosomes 3, 6, and 15 identified by prometaphase banding and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). Two mentally retarded sibs with different phenotypic abnormalities, their phenotypically normal sister and mother, and two fetuses of the phenotypically normal sister were analysed. The terminal regions of chromosomes 3q, 6q, and 15...

Subtelomeric rearrangements are believed to be responsible for 5-7% of idiopathic mental retardation cases. Due to the relative complexity and high cost of the screening methods used till now, only preselected patient populations including mostly the more severely affected cases have been screened. Recently, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) has been adapted for use in sub...

Telomere position effect (TPE) is the influence of telomeres on subtelomeric epigenetic marks and gene expression. Previous studies suggested that TPE depends on genetic background. As these analyses were performed on different chromosomes, cell types and species, it remains unclear whether TPE represents a chromosome-rather than genetic background-specific regulation. We describe the developme...

Telomerase-negative yeasts survive via one of the two Rad52-dependent recombination pathways, which have distinct genetic requirements. Although the telomere pattern of type I and type II survivors is well characterized, the mechanistic details of short telomere rearrangement into highly evolved pattern observed in survivors are still missing. Here, we analyze immediate events taking place at t...