Identification of Y-chromosome Turnover in Newts Fails to Support a Sex Chromosome Origin for the Triturus Balanced Lethal System.

ABSTRACT: Non-recombining regions often have profound effects on genome evolution, resulting in structures such as sex chromosomes and supergenes. Amongst the strangest examples are balanced lethal systems, such as that found in newts of the genus Triturus. These systems halve reproductive output, and the evolution of such a deleterious trait is difficult to explain. For Triturus, an intriguing model proposes that the balanced lethal system evolved from an ancestral Y-chromosome. To test this hypothesis, we identify the Y-chromosome of Triturus and verify whether it, or the balanced lethal system, is homologous to the Y-chromosome of its sister genus Lissotriton, which does not possess the balanced lethal system. We identify a set of candidate Y-linked markers in Triturus ivanbureschi and validate t

SUBMITTER: France J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12410432 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature