What is Barr body in cytology?
The Barr body is the inactive X chromosome in a female somatic cell. It is readily identified as plano-convex structure of 2-3 micron in diameter on the periphery of the nuclear membrane.
Do Barr bodies do anything?
A Barr Body is an inactivated, condensed X chromosome found in female cells. Since females possess two X chromosomes and males have one X chromosome and a Y chromosomes, Barr bodies are essential to regulate the amount of X-linked gene product being transcribed.
What is Barr body in histopathology?
A Barr body (named after discoverer Murray Barr) or X-chromatin is an inactive X chromosome in a cell with more than one X chromosome, rendered inactive in a process called lyonization, in species with XY sex-determination (including humans).
What is Barr body staining?
Inactivated X chromosomes seen in female somatic cells are called Barr-bodies which are present adjacent to the nuclear membrane. Condensed state of densely stained chromatin signifies that in such cases DNA replication occurred at the later stage of S phase of cell cycle.
Will there be a Barr body in male with Klinefelter syndrome?
Like females, XXY males with Klinefelter syndrome will convert one X to a Barr body in each cell. Triple X females (as well as Klinefelter males with more than two X chromosomes) neutralize their extra Xs by forming additional Barr bodies.
How many Barr bodies does a woman have?
These masses are called Barr bodies after the cytologist who discovered them. XX females have one Barr body per cell, XXX females have 2 Barr bodies per cell, and XXY Klinefelter males have one Barr body per cell (Barr bodies are not observed in XY males).
Why do females show a Barr body in their cells?
Why do human females show a Barr body in their cells? Most of the genes of the X chromosome that forms the Barr body are not expressed. In the ovaries, Barr-body chromosomes are reactivated in the cells that give rise to eggs, so every female gamete has an active X. X inactivation maintains the proper gene dosage.
How many Barr bodies does the average woman have?
What does a Barr body look like?
The Barr, or sex chromatin, body is an inactive X chromosome. It appears as a dense, dark-staining spot at the periphery of the nucleus of each somatic cell in the human female.
Why do human females show a Barr body in their cells?
Will there be a Barr body in a female with Klinefelter syndrome?
XX females have one Barr body per cell, XXX females have 2 Barr bodies per cell, and XXY Klinefelter males have one Barr body per cell (Barr bodies are not observed in XY males). This is why X chromosome aneuploidy can be tolerated; all but one of the extra X chromosomes is unactivated.
Are Barr bodies inherited?
sex-linked inheritance physically condenses to form a Barr body, a small structure found at the rim of the nucleus in female somatic cells between divisions (see photograph). The discovery of X inactivation is generally attributed to British geneticist Mary Lyon, and it is therefore often called “lyonization.”