Time for chromatin region to explore entire spermatocyte nucleus

Range 6-7 hours
Organism Fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster
Reference Vazquez J, Belmont AS, Sedat JW. Multiple regimes of constrained chromosome motion are regulated in the interphase Drosophila nucleus. Curr Biol. 2001 Aug 2111(16):1227-39.PubMed ID11525737
Method Chromosome motion was tracked in Drosophila spermatocyte nuclei by 3D fluorescence microscopy. The Lac repressor/lac operator system was used to label specific chromosomal sites in live tissues, allowing extended observation of chromatin motion in different cell cycle stages.
Comments The results indicate a high degree of chromatin motion in early spermatocyte nuclei, with a long-range diffusion coefficient of about 1 × 10^-3 µm^2/s for individual lac O sites. At this rate, a given chromatin region is expected to travel 4.6 µm in one hour and, on average, will explore the entire nucleus (approximately 11–12 µm diameter) in approximately 6–7 hr.
Entered by Uri M
ID 104291