Genes - Lecture 20, Chromosome abnormalities and cytoplasmic inheritance Flashcards
What is aneuploidy?
Chromosome abnormality where there’s an abnormal number of chromosomes
What is monosomy?
Loss of a single chromosome
What is trisomy?
One extra chromosome
What is tetrasomy?
An extra pair of chromosomes
What happens during meiosis to produce aneuploid gametes?
Mistakes in chromosome segregation
How many human conceptions are aneuploid?
20-50%
How many live births are aneuploid?
<0.5%
What is the trisomy of Down syndrome and what are its characteristics?
Trisomy 21
Facial features, short, learning disabilities
1 in 1000 births
What is the trisomy of Patau syndrome?
Trisomy 13
What is the trisomy of Edwards syndrome?
Trisomy 18
What are the two types of prenatal screening for down syndrome?
Combined test - ultrasound and blood test
Quadruple test - blood test
How are cells sampled from the foetus?
Chorionic villus sampling
OR
Amniocentesis
What is the process of sampling cells from the foetus?
CVS or amniocentesis is used
The karyotype of foetal cells is determined
What is robertsonian translocation as another cause of down syndrome?
Involves chromosome 21 and 14
There is illegitimate recombination between rDNA repeats on short arms of chromosome 21 and 14
This fuses the chromosomes
What is genetic mosaicism as another cause of down syndrome?
Individuals have a mix of normal and trisomy 21 cells
An embryo with trisomy 21 followed by loss of extra chromosome 21 by mitotic non-disjunction