scholarly journals Male recombination produced multiple geographically restricted neo-Y chromosome haplotypes of varying ages that correlate with onset of neo-Y decay in Drosophila albomicans

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin H-C. Wei ◽  
Doris Bachtrog

Male Drosophila typically have achiasmatic meiosis, and fusions between autosomes and the Y have repeatedly created non-recombining neo-Y chromosomes that degenerate. Intriguingly, Drosophila nasuta males recombine, but their close relative D. albomicans reverted back to achiasmy after evolving neo-sex chromosomes. Here we use genome-wide polymorphism data to reconstruct the complex evolutionary history of neo-sex chromosomes in D. albomicans and examine the effect of recombination and its cessation on the initiation of neo-Y decay. Population and phylogenomic analyses reveal three distinct neo-Y types that are geographically restricted. Due to meiotic exchange with the neo-X, overall nucleotide diversity on the neo-Y is similar to the neo-X but severely reduced within neo-Y types. Consistently, outside of the region proximal to the fusion, the neo-Ys fail to form a monophyletic clade in sliding window trees. Based on tree topology changes, we inferred the recombinant breakpoints that produced haplotypes specific to each neo-Y type and estimated their ages revealing that recombination became suppressed at different time points for the different neo-Y haplotypes. Although there are no evidence of chromosome-wide differentiation between the neo-sex chromosomes, haplotype age correlates with onset of neo-Y decay. Older neo-Y haplotypes show more fixed gene disruption via frameshift indels and down-regulation of neo-Y alleles. Genes are downregulated independently on the different neo-Ys, but are depleted of testes-biased genes across all haplotypes, indicating that genes important for male function are shielded from degeneration. Our results offer a time course of the early progression of Y chromosome evolution, showing how the suppression of recombination, through the reversal to achiasmy in D. albomicans males, initiates the process of degeneration.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingzhan Xue ◽  
Yu Gao ◽  
Meiying Wu ◽  
Tian Tian ◽  
Haiping Fan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The origin of sex chromosomes requires the establishment of recombination suppression between the proto-sex chromosomes. In many fish species, the sex chromosome pair is homomorphic with a recent origin, providing species for studying how and why recombination suppression evolved in the initial stages of sex chromosome differentiation, but this requires accurate sequence assembly of the X and Y (or Z and W) chromosomes, which may be difficult if they are recently diverged. Results Here we produce a haplotype-resolved genome assembly of zig-zag eel (Mastacembelus armatus), an aquaculture fish, at the chromosomal scale. The diploid assembly is nearly gap-free, and in most chromosomes, we resolve the centromeric and subtelomeric heterochromatic sequences. In particular, the Y chromosome, including its highly repetitive short arm, has zero gaps. Using resequencing data, we identify a ~7 Mb fully sex-linked region (SLR), spanning the sex chromosome centromere and almost entirely embedded in the pericentromeric heterochromatin. The SLRs on the X and Y chromosomes are almost identical in sequence and gene content, but both are repetitive and heterochromatic, consistent with zero or low recombination. We further identify an HMG-domain containing gene HMGN6 in the SLR as a candidate sex-determining gene that is expressed at the onset of testis development. Conclusions Our study supports the idea that preexisting regions of low recombination, such as pericentromeric regions, can give rise to SLR in the absence of structural variations between the proto-sex chromosomes.


2001 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIKO KONDO ◽  
ERIKO NAGAO ◽  
HIROSHI MITANI ◽  
AKIHIRO SHIMA

In the medaka, Oryzias latipes, sex is determined chromosomally. The sex chromosomes differ from those of mammals in that the X and Y chromosomes are highly homologous. Using backcross panels for linkage analysis, we mapped 21 sequence tagged site (STS) markers on the sex chromosomes (linkage group 1). The genetic map of the sex chromosome was established using male and female meioses. The genetic length of the sex chromosome was shorter in male than in female meioses. The region where male recombination is suppressed is the region close to the sex-determining gene y, while female recombination was suppressed in both the telomeric regions. The restriction in recombination does not occur uniformly on the sex chromosome, as the genetic map distances of the markers are not proportional in male and female recombination. Thus, this observation seems to support the hypothesis that the heterogeneous sex chromosomes were derived from suppression of recombination between autosomal chromosomes. In two of the markers, Yc-2 and Casp6, which were expressed sequence-tagged (EST) sites, polymorphisms of both X and Y chromosomes were detected. The alleles of the X and Y chromosomes were also detected in O. curvinotus, a species related to the medaka. These markers could be used for genotyping the sex chromosomes in the medaka and other species, and could be used in other studies on sex chromosomes.


Genome ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1105-1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Felip ◽  
Atushi Fujiwara ◽  
William P Young ◽  
Paul A Wheeler ◽  
Marc Noakes ◽  
...  

Most fish species show little morphological differentiation in the sex chromosomes. We have coupled molecular and cytogenetic analyses to characterize the male-determining region of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Y chromosome. Four genetically diverse male clonal lines of this species were used for genetic and physical mapping of regions in the vicinity of the sex locus. Five markers were genetically mapped to the Y chromosome in these male lines, indicating that the sex locus was located on the same linkage group in each of the lines. We also confirmed the presence of a Y chromosome morphological polymorphism among these lines, with the Y chromosomes from two of the lines having the more common heteromorphic Y chromosome and two of the lines having Y chromosomes morphologically similar to the X chromosome. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) pattern of two probes linked to sex suggested that the sex locus is physically located on the long arm of the Y chromosome. Fishes appear to be an excellent group of organisms for studying sex chromosome evolution and differentiation in vertebrates because they show considerable variability in the mechanisms and (or) patterns involved in sex determination.Key words: sex chromosomes, sex markers, cytogenetics, rainbow trout, fish.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (38) ◽  
pp. 19031-19036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulia Darolti ◽  
Alison E. Wright ◽  
Benjamin A. Sandkam ◽  
Jake Morris ◽  
Natasha I. Bloch ◽  
...  

Once recombination is halted between the X and Y chromosomes, sex chromosomes begin to differentiate and transition to heteromorphism. While there is a remarkable variation across clades in the degree of sex chromosome divergence, far less is known about the variation in sex chromosome differentiation within clades. Here, we combined whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing data to characterize the structure and conservation of sex chromosome systems across Poeciliidae, the livebearing clade that includes guppies. We found that the Poecilia reticulata XY system is much older than previously thought, being shared not only with its sister species, Poecilia wingei, but also with Poecilia picta, which diverged roughly 20 million years ago. Despite the shared ancestry, we uncovered an extreme heterogeneity across these species in the proportion of the sex chromosome with suppressed recombination, and the degree of Y chromosome decay. The sex chromosomes in P. reticulata and P. wingei are largely homomorphic, with recombination in the former persisting over a substantial fraction. However, the sex chromosomes in P. picta are completely nonrecombining and strikingly heteromorphic. Remarkably, the profound degradation of the ancestral Y chromosome in P. picta is counterbalanced by the evolution of functional chromosome-wide dosage compensation in this species, which has not been previously observed in teleost fish. Our results offer important insight into the initial stages of sex chromosome evolution and dosage compensation.


Genome ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Hi Zhang ◽  
Veronica S Stilio ◽  
Farah Rehman ◽  
Amy Avery ◽  
David Mulcahy ◽  
...  

Sex determination in plants has been most thoroughly investigated in Silene latifolia, a dioecious species possessing heteromorphic sex chromosomes. We have identified several new Y chromosome linked RAPD markers and converted these to more reliable sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers by cloning the RAPD fragments and developing longer primers. Of the primer pairs for seven SCARs, five amplify a single, unique fragment from the DNA of male S. latifolia. Two sets of primers also amplify additional fragments common to males and females. Homology between the X and Y chromosomes is sufficient to allow the amplification of fragments from females under less stringent PCR conditions. Five of the SCARs also distinguish between the sexes of closely related dioecious taxa of the section Elisanthe, but not between the sexes of distantly related dioecious species. These markers will be useful for continued investigations into the evolution of sex, phylogenetic relationships among taxa, and population dynamics of sex ratios in the genus Silene.Key words: Melandrium, RAPDs, sex chromosomes, SCARs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin A Sandkam ◽  
Pedro Almeida ◽  
Iulia Darolti ◽  
Benjamin Furman ◽  
Wouter van der Bijl ◽  
...  

AbstractSex chromosomes form once recombination is halted between the X and Y chromosomes. This loss of recombination quickly depletes Y chromosomes of functional content and genetic variation, which is thought to severely limit their potential to generate adaptive diversity. We examined Y diversity in Poecilia parae, where males occur as one of five discrete morphs, all of which shoal together in natural populations where morph frequency has been stable for over 50 years. Each morph utilizes different complex reproductive strategies, and differ dramatically from each other in color, body size, and mating behavior. Remarkably, morph phenotype is passed perfectly from father to son, indicating there are five Y haplotypes segregating in the species, each of which encodes the complex male morph characteristics. Using linked-read sequencing on multiple P. parae females and males of all five morphs from natural populations, we found that the genetic architecture of the male morphs evolved on the Y chromosome long after recombination suppression had occurred with the X. Comparing Y chromosomes between each of the morphs revealed that although the Ys of the three minor morphs that differ predominantly in color are highly similar, there are substantial amounts of unique genetic material and divergence between the Ys of the three major morphs that differ in reproductive strategy, body size and mating behavior. Taken together, our results reveal the extraordinary ability of evolution to overcome the constraints of recombination loss to generate extreme diversity resulting in five discrete Y chromosomes that control complex reproductive strategies.Significance StatementThe loss of recombination on the Y chromosome is thought to limit the adaptive potential of this unique genomic region. Despite this, we describe an extraordinary case of Y chromosome adaptation in Poecilia parae. This species contains five co-occurring male morphs, all of which are Y-linked, and which differ in reproductive strategy, body size, coloration, and mating behavior. The five Y-linked male morphs of P. parae evolved after recombination was halted on the Y, resulting in five unique Y chromosomes within one species. Our results reveal the surprising magnitude to which non-recombining regions can generate adaptive diversity and have important implications for the evolution of sex chromosomes and the genetic control of sex-linked diversity.


Author(s):  
Jae Hak Son ◽  
Richard P. Meisel

AbstractX and Y chromosomes are usually derived from a pair of homologous autosomes, which then diverge from each other over time. Although Y-specific features have been characterized in sex chromosomes of various ages, the earliest stages of Y chromosome evolution remain elusive. In particular, we do not know whether early stages of Y chromosome evolution consist of changes to individual genes or happen via chromosome-scale divergence from the X. To address this question, we quantified divergence between young proto-X and proto-Y chromosomes in the house fly, Musca domestica. We compared proto-sex chromosome sequence and gene expression between genotypic (XY) and sex-reversed (XX) males. We find evidence for sequence divergence between genes on the proto-X and proto-Y, including five genes with mitochondrial functions. There is also an excess of genes with divergent expression between the proto-X and proto-Y, but the number of genes is small. This suggests that individual proto-Y genes, but not the entire proto-Y chromosome, have diverged from the proto-X. We identified one gene, encoding an axonemal dynein assembly factor (which functions in sperm motility), that has higher expression in XY males than XX males because of a disproportionate contribution of the proto-Y allele to gene expression. The up-regulation of the proto-Y allele may be favored in males because of this gene’s function in spermatogenesis. The evolutionary divergence between proto-X and proto-Y copies of this gene, as well as the mitochondrial genes, is consistent with selection in males affecting the evolution of individual genes during early Y chromosome evolution.


PLoS Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. e1009438
Author(s):  
Alison H. Nguyen ◽  
Doris Bachtrog

Sex-specific differences in lifespan are prevalent across the tree of life and influenced by heteromorphic sex chromosomes. In species with XY sex chromosomes, females often outlive males. Males and females can differ in their overall repeat content due to the repetitive Y chromosome, and repeats on the Y might lower survival of the heterogametic sex (toxic Y effect). Here, we take advantage of the well-assembled young Y chromosome of Drosophila miranda to study the sex-specific dynamics of chromatin structure and repeat expression during aging in male and female flies. Male D. miranda have about twice as much repetitive DNA compared to females, and live shorter than females. Heterochromatin is crucial for silencing of repetitive elements, yet old D. miranda flies lose H3K9me3 modifications in their pericentromere, with heterochromatin loss being more severe during aging in males than females. Satellite DNA becomes de-repressed more rapidly in old vs. young male flies relative to females. In contrast to what is observed in D. melanogaster, we find that transposable elements (TEs) are expressed at higher levels in male D. miranda throughout their life. We show that epigenetic silencing via heterochromatin formation is ineffective on the TE-rich neo-Y chromosome, presumably due to active transcription of a large number of neo-Y linked genes, resulting in up-regulation of Y-linked TEs already in young males. This is consistent with an interaction between the evolutionary age of the Y chromosome and the genomic effects of aging. Our data support growing evidence that “toxic Y chromosomes” can diminish male fitness and a reduction in heterochromatin can contribute to sex-specific aging.


Reproduction ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Alton ◽  
Mau Pan Lau ◽  
Michele Villemure ◽  
Teruko Taketo

Sexual differentiation of the germ cells follows gonadal differentiation, which is determined by the presence or the absence of the Y-chromosome. Consequently, oogenesis and spermatogenesis take place in the germ cells with XX and XY sex chromosomal compositions respectively. It is unclear how sexual dimorphic regulation of meiosis is associated with the sex-chromosomal composition. In the present study, we examined the behavior of the sex chromosomes in the oocytes of the B6.YTIRsex-reversed female mouse, in comparison with XO and XX females. As the sex chromosomes fail to pair in both XY and XO oocytes during meiotic prophase, we anticipated that the pairing failure may lead to excessive oocyte loss. However, the total number of germ cells, identified by immunolabeling of germ cell nuclear antigen 1 (GCNA1), did not differ between XY and XX ovaries or XO and XX ovaries up to the day of delivery. The progression of meiotic prophase, assessed by immunolabeling of synaptonemal complex components, was also similar between the two genotypes of ovaries. These observations suggest that the failure in sex-chromosome pairing is not sufficient to cause oocyte loss. On the other hand, labeling of phosphorylated histone γH2AX, known to be associated with asynapsis and transcriptional repression, was seen over the X-chromosome but not over the Y-chromosome in the majority of XY oocytes at the pachytene stage. For comparison, γH2AX labeling was seen only in the minority of XX oocytes at the same stage. We speculate that the transcriptional activity of sex chromosomes in the XY oocyte may be incompatible with ooplasmic maturation.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (3) ◽  
pp. 981-985
Author(s):  
Masaki Fujisawa ◽  
Kiwako Hayashi ◽  
Tomohisa Nishio ◽  
Tomoyuki Bando ◽  
Sachiko Okada ◽  
...  

Abstract The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha has X and Y chromosomes in the respective female and male haploids. Here we report the successful exploitation of representational difference analyses to isolate DNA markers for the sex chromosomes. Two female-specific and six male-specific DNA fragments were genetically confirmed to originate from the X and Y chromosomes, respectively.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document