Chromosome segregation at meiosis I in female T(2;4)1Go/+ mice: no evidence for a decreased crossover frequency with maternal age

The influence of age and hormones on chromosome segregation at meiosis I was studied in female mice heterozygous for the T(2;4)1Go translocation. Females of two age groups (18-22 and 40-56 weeks old) were stimulated for ovulation with different doses of gonadotropins (1.5 IU PMS/1.0 IU HCG or 10 IU PMS/10 IU HCG). Analysis of metaphase II oocytes revealed the highest level of hyperhaploidy (1.8%) and presegregation (4.4%) in the young females receiving the low dose. Presegregation preferentially affected the small 4(2) marker chromosome. There was no significant interference of the tetravalent with disjunction of the nontranslocated normal bivalents. Moreover, no remarkable difference in the mode of segregation (adjacent I, II or alternate) was observed. Recombination within the interstitial pairing segments of the chromosomes involved in the translocation allowed us to calculate cross-over frequencies in ovulated oocytes. For both the large 2(4) and the small 4(2) marker chromosomes, this frequency was higher in old than in young T(2;4)1Go/+ females. Our data do not support the production line hypothesis of Henderson and Edwards (1968) which claims that chiasma frequency in oocytes decreases with maternal age.