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Convergent evolution of chicken Z and human X chromosomes by expansion and gene acquisition

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  • Daniel W. Bellott

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA)

  • Helen Skaletsky

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA)

  • Tatyana Pyntikova

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA)

  • Elaine R. Mardis

    (The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine)

  • Tina Graves

    (The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine)

  • Colin Kremitzki

    (The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine)

  • Laura G. Brown

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA)

  • Steve Rozen

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA)

  • Wesley C. Warren

    (The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine)

  • Richard K. Wilson

    (The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine)

  • David C. Page

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA)

Abstract

Dynamic sex chromosomes Birds and mammals have distinct sex chromosomes. In birds, males have a pair of Z chromosomes and females a Z and a W. In mammals, males are XY and females XX. It has long been assumed that sex-chromosome evolution has involved dramatic modification of the sex-specific (W and Y) chromosomes but only modest changes to the Z and X chromosomes shared by the sexes. Not so, according to a new study reporting the sequence of the chicken Z chromosome and comparing it with the finished sequence of human X. The Z and X chromosomes have changed dramatically from the autosomal (non-sex) chromosomes that gave rise to them. And they seem to have followed convergent evolutionary trajectories, including the acquisition and amplification of testis-expressed gene families, despite having arisen independently from different portions of the ancestral genome.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel W. Bellott & Helen Skaletsky & Tatyana Pyntikova & Elaine R. Mardis & Tina Graves & Colin Kremitzki & Laura G. Brown & Steve Rozen & Wesley C. Warren & Richard K. Wilson & David C. Page, 2010. "Convergent evolution of chicken Z and human X chromosomes by expansion and gene acquisition," Nature, Nature, vol. 466(7306), pages 612-616, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:466:y:2010:i:7306:d:10.1038_nature09172
    DOI: 10.1038/nature09172
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