When Does Translocation Occur?

Translocations occur when chromosomes become broken during meiosis and the resulting fragment becomes joined to another chromosome. Reciprocal translocations: In a balanced reciprocal translocation (Fig. 2.3), genetic material is exchanged between two chromosomes with no apparent loss.

Why does chromosomal translocation occur?

Translocations generally result from swapping of chromosomal arms between heterologous chromosomes and hence are reciprocal in nature (Figure 1) (8,9). DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are prerequisites for such translocations, although little is known about their generation.

How does translocation happen?

In a translocation, a segment from one chromosome is transferred to a nonhomologous chromosome or to a new site on the same chromosome. Translocations place genes in new linkage relationships and generate chromosomes without normal pairing partners.