Cloning of DNA libraries from mouse Y chromosomes purified by flow cytometry.

To purify mouse Y chromosomes by flow cytometry, a male cell line containing the Robertsonian translocation Rb(9.19)163H has been established by SV40 transformation. Flow karyotypes obtained from these cells exhibit a well-isolated peak of fluorescence corresponding to the single Y chromosome, clearly distinct from that of chromosome 19. From this peak, 650,000 chromosomes were sorted, and two restriction fragment libraries were constructed from the DNA of the sorted chromosomes. The characterization of several Y-specific fragments has shown that the Y DNA was enriched at least 36-fold. Furthermore, given that there are likely homologies between the X and Y chromosomes, we can assume that this calculated value of the purification factor is an underestimation and that the Y DNA was more highly purified by flow sorting.