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Purpose: We evaluated the experiences of 19 Italian laboratories concerning 241 small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMCs) with the aim of answering questions arising from their origin from any chromosome, their variable size and genetic content, and their impact on the carrier's phenotype., Methods: Conventional protocols were used to set up the cultures and chromosome preparations. Both commercial and homemade probes were used for the fluorescent in situ hybridization analyses., Results: A total of 113 of the 241 sSMCs were detected antenatally, and 128 were detected postnatally. There were 52 inherited and 172 de novo cases. Abnormal phenotype was present in 137 cases (57%), 38 of which were antenatally diagnosed. A mosaic condition was observed in 87 cases (36%). In terms of morphology, monocentric and dicentric bisatellited marker chromosomes were the most common, followed by monocentric rings and short-arm isochromosomes. The chromosomes generating the sSMCs were acrocentric in 132 cases (69%) and non-acrocentric chromosomes in 60 cases (31%); a neocentromere was hypothesized in three cases involving chromosomes 6, 8, and 15., Conclusion: The presented and published data still do not allow any definite conclusions to be drawn concerning karyotype-phenotype correlations. Only concerted efforts to characterize molecularly the sSMCs associated or not with a clinical phenotype can yield results suitable for addressing karyotype-phenotype correlations in support of genetic counseling.

A rec(5)dup(5)(q23.2q31.3) inherited from a maternal ins(5)(p13.1q23.2q31.3) was detected in a 4-month-old male child who showed hypotonia, microcephaly, cardiac defects, pulmonary hypoplasia and stenosis, bilateral hydronephrosis, hydrocele, testicular hypoplasia and phimosis. Dysmorphisms were also observed. We compare the clinical characteristics of our patient with those of the previously reported dup5q cases in an attempt to define the phenotype-karyotype correlation. The maternal insertion responsible for the duplicated 5q23.2-31.3 region in the child was characterized in detail by FISH analysis, which identified a complex rearrangement involving four breakpoints (bkp's): a 5q segment excised following breakage at 5q23.2 and 5q31.3 became inverted and inserted at 5p13.1, probably coincidentally with an internal breakage at 5q23.3 causing a 180 degrees rotation of the two subsegments. The mother's karyotype was consequently defined as 46,XX, ins(5)(pter --> p13.1 Colon, two colons q23.3 --> q23.2 Colon, two colons q31.3 --> q23.3 Colon, two colons p13.1 --> q23.2 Colon, two colons q31.3 --> qter). There are clusters of Alu sequences in the genomic clones spanning all the four bkp's, suggesting their possible involvement in the rearrangement. No clinical phenotype was associated with this balanced rearrangement in the mother and a number of other carriers in the same family.

Chromosome numbers of the snail Helicella virgata from the fields of Castellammare del Golfo (Sicily) are n = 26 and 2n = 52. Silver-staining analyses of testicular cells suggest that both mitotic and meiotic chromosomes are involved in nucleolus organization. A within-individual variability in NOR-banding pattern is present in each of the 20 specimens analyzed.