The location of Z- and W-linked marker genes and sequence on the homomorphic sex chromosomes of the ostrich and the emu.

ABSTRACT: Perhaps the most striking fact about early Cenozoic avian history some 70 million years ago was the rapid radiation of large, flightless, ground-living birds. It has been suggested that, for a time, there was active competition between these large terrestrial birds and the early mammals. Probably reflecting the above noted early start of Ratitae of the infraclass Eoaves, the presumptive sex chromosomes of their present day survivors, such as the emu and the ostrich, largely remained homomorphic. The signs of genetic differentiation between their still-homomorphic Z and W chromosomes were tested by using two marker genes (Z-linked ZOV3 and the gene for the iron-responsive element-binding protein) and one marker sequence of a part of a presumptive pseudogene (W-linked EE0.6 of the chicken).

SUBMITTER: Ogawa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC22503 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature