Mosaic (genetics)

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In genetics, a mosaic is an individual whose body contains cells with different karyotypes and / or genotypes , with all body cells descending from the same fertilized egg cell . A mosaic must be distinguished from a chimera , in which cells from several individual fertilized egg cells are united in one individual.

The different karyotypes of a mosaic arise in the course of embryonic development through problems with cell division, mostly as a result of non-disjunction (for example in Pallister-Killian syndrome ). Different genotypes arise through mutation of individual cells during embryonic development.

X-inactivation is also a possible physiological cause of a mosaic (for example in the cat's tortoiseshell pattern ).

literature

  • Horst Kräusslich (eds.) And Brem (1997): Animal breeding and general agricultural teaching for veterinarians . Ferdinand Enke Verlag Stuttgart, ISBN 3-432-26621-9
  • Srb / Owen / Edgar (1965): General Genetics , WH Freeman & Company, San Francisco, Library of Congress 65-19558