Relationship Between Sequence Homology, Genome Architecture, and Meiotic Behavior of the Sex Chromosomes in North American Voles.

ABSTRACT: In most mammals, the X and Y chromosomes synapse and recombine along a conserved region of homology known as the pseudoautosomal region (PAR). These homology-driven interactions are required for meiotic progression and are essential for male fertility. Although the PAR fulfills key meiotic functions in most mammals, several exceptional species lack PAR-mediated sex chromosome associations at meiosis. Here, we leveraged the natural variation in meiotic sex chromosome programs present in North American voles (Microtus) to investigate the relationship between meiotic sex chromosome dynamics and X/Y sequence homology. To this end, we developed a novel, reference-blind computational method to analyze sparse sequencing data from flow-sorted X and Y chromosomes isolated from vole species w

SUBMITTER: Dumont BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6116968 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature