Nucleolar RNA synthesis of meiotic prophase spermatocytes in the human testis.

Human meiotic prophase spermatocyte nuclei were studied by electron microscope autoradiography after a 3 hours 3H-uridine labeling pulse, followed by postincubation in non-radioactive medium. In autosomes, 3H-uridine nucleolar labeling reaches a peak during early-middle zygotene prior to the peak labeling of chromosmal RNA species at middle pachytene. Transcription activities of sex chromosomes are inconspicuous when compared with that of autosomes. An increasing condensation of nucleolar-associated chromatin in acrocentric bivalents contributes to the formation of basal knobs in human pachytene spermatocytes. Upon completion of knob formation, nucleolar components segregate and the uptake of 3H-uridine decreases. These findings suggest that the template capability of ribosomal DNA cistrons, located next to the basal knob region, is largely associated with a dispersed state of chromatin whereas increased chromatin condensation is correlated with a restriction of ribosomal RNA transcription.