scholarly journals Y chromosome gene copy number and lack of autism phenotype in a male with an isodicentric Y chromosome and absent NLGN4Y expression

2019 ◽  
Vol 180 (7) ◽  
pp. 471-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith L. Ross ◽  
Luke Bloy ◽  
Timothy P. L. Roberts ◽  
Judith Miller ◽  
Chao Xing ◽  
...  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danling Ye ◽  
Arslan Zaidi ◽  
Marta Tomaszkiewicz ◽  
Corey Liebowitz ◽  
Michael DeGiorgio ◽  
...  

AbstractDue to its highly repetitive nature, the human male-specific Y chromosome remains understudied. It is important to investigate variation on the Y chromosome to understand its evolution and contribution to phenotypic variation, including infertility. Approximately 20% of the human Y chromosome consists of ampliconic regions which include nine multi-copy gene families. These gene families are expressed exclusively in testes and usually implicated in spermatogenesis. Here, to gain a better understanding of the role of the Y chromosome in human evolution and in determining sexually dimorphic traits, we studied ampliconic gene copy number variation in 100 males representing ten major Y haplogroups world-wide. Copy number was estimated with droplet digital PCR. In contrast to low nucleotide diversity observed on the Y in previous studies, here we show that ampliconic gene copy number diversity is very high. A total of 98 copy-number-based haplotypes were observed among 100 individuals, and haplotypes were sometimes shared by males from very different haplogroups, suggesting homoplasies. The resulting haplotypes did not cluster according to major Y haplogroups. Overall, only three gene families (DATZ, RBMY, TSPY) showed significant differences in copy number among major Y haplogroups, and the haplogroup of an individual could not be predicted based on his ampliconic gene copy numbers. Finally, we found a significant correlation between copy number variation and individual’s height (for three gene families), but not between the former and facial masculinity/femininity. Our results suggest rapid evolution of ampliconic gene copy numbers on the human Y, and we discuss its causes.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M Skinner ◽  
Kim Lachani ◽  
Carole A Sargent ◽  
Fengtang Yang ◽  
Peter JI Ellis ◽  
...  

Amplified gene families on sex chromosomes can harbour genes with important biological functions, especially relating to fertility. The HSFY family has amplified on the Y chromosome of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa), in an apparently independent event to an HSFY expansion on the Y chromosome of cattle (Bos taurus). Although the biological functions of HSFY genes are poorly understood, they appear to be involved in gametogenesis in a number of mammalian species, and, in cattle, HSFY gene copy number correlates with levels of fertility. We have investigated the HSFY family in domestic pigs, and other suid species including warthogs, bushpigs, babirusas and peccaries. The domestic pig contains at least two amplified variants of HSFY, distinguished predominantly by presence or absence of a SINE within the intron. Both these variants are expressed in testis, and both are present in approximately 50 copies each in a single cluster on the short arm of the Y. The longer form has multiple nonsense mutations rendering it likely non-functional, but many of the shorter forms still have coding potential. Other suid species also have these two variants of HSFY, and estimates of copy number suggest the HSFY family may have amplified independently twice during suid evolution. Given the association of HSFY gene copy number with fertility in cattle, HSFY is likely to play an important role in spermatogenesis in pigs also.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 283
Author(s):  
Eyal Seroussi

Determination of the relative copy numbers of mixed molecular species in nucleic acid samples is often the objective of biological experiments, including Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP), indel and gene copy-number characterization, and quantification of CRISPR-Cas9 base editing, cytosine methylation, and RNA editing. Standard dye-terminator chromatograms are a widely accessible, cost-effective information source from which copy-number proportions can be inferred. However, the rate of incorporation of dye terminators is dependent on the dye type, the adjacent sequence string, and the secondary structure of the sequenced strand. These variable rates complicate inferences and have driven scientists to resort to complex and costly quantification methods. Because these complex methods introduce their own biases, researchers are rethinking whether rectifying distortions in sequencing trace files and using direct sequencing for quantification will enable comparable accurate assessment. Indeed, recent developments in software tools (e.g., TIDE, ICE, EditR, BEEP and BEAT) indicate that quantification based on direct Sanger sequencing is gaining in scientific acceptance. This commentary reviews the common obstacles in quantification and the latest insights and developments relevant to estimating copy-number proportions based on direct Sanger sequencing, concluding that bidirectional sequencing and sophisticated base calling are the keys to identifying and avoiding sequence distortions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raimonda Kubiliute ◽  
Indre Januskeviciene ◽  
Ruta Urbanaviciute ◽  
Kristina Daniunaite ◽  
Monika Drobniene ◽  
...  

AbstractHyperactivation of ABC transporter ABCB1 and induction of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) are the most common mechanism of acquired cancer chemoresistance. This study describes possible mechanisms, that might contribute to upregulation of ABCB1 and synergistically boost the acquisition of doxorubicin (DOX) resistance in breast cancer MX-1 cell line. DOX resistance in MX-1 cell line was induced by a stepwise increase of drug concentration or by pretreatment of cells with an ABCB1 transporter activator tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP+) followed by DOX exposure. Transcriptome analysis of derived cells was performed by human gene expression microarrays and by quantitative PCR. Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of ABCB1 regulation were evaluated by pyrosequencing and gene copy number variation analysis. Gradual activation of canonical EMT transcription factors with later activation of ABCB1 at the transcript level was observed in DOX-only treated cells, while TPP+ exposure induced considerable activation of ABCB1 at both, mRNA and protein level. The changes in ABCB1 mRNA and protein level were related to the promoter DNA hypomethylation and the increase in gene copy number. ABCB1-active cells were highly resistant to DOX and showed morphological and molecular features of EMT. The study suggests that nongenotoxic ABCB1 inducer can possibly accelerate development of DOX resistance.


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