X chromosomes show relaxed selection and complete somatic dosage compensation across Timema stick insect species.

ABSTRACT: Sex chromosomes have evolved repeatedly across the tree of life. As they are present in different copy numbers in males and females, they are expected to experience different selection pressures than the autosomes, with consequences including a faster rate of evolution, increased accumulation of sexually antagonistic alleles and the evolution of dosage compensation. Whether these consequences are general or linked to idiosyncrasies of specific taxa is not clear as relatively few taxa have been studied thus far. Here, we use whole-genome sequencing to identify and characterize the evolution of the X chromosome in five species of Timema stick insects with XX:X0 sex determination. The X chromosome had a similar size (approximately 12% of the genome) and gene content across all five species, s

SUBMITTER: Parker DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10087215 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature