Meiosis and spermatogenesis in bulls heterozygous for a presumptive 1/29 Robertsonian translocation

Abstract

Bulls heterozygous for the 1/29 Robertsonian translocation showed normal mating behaviour, semen quality and spermatogenesis. The karyotypes of 90 offspring of 1 heterozygous bull were consistent with a normal 1:1 segregation of the translocation. There was no difference in overall chiasma frequency at diakinesis between heterozygous and normal bulls, and while a trivalent was noted at diakinesis the chiasma position within the No. 1 arm of the trivalent did not appear to be altered when compared with that found in the normal No. 1 bivalent. An increased frequency of aneuploid secondary spermatocytes at the second meiotic division (M II) was found in the heterozygous bulls, the rate of non-disjunction based on the proportion of hypermodal cells being raised from 2.8% in the normal to 6.4% in the heterozygous animals.