Sex-Biased Gene Expression and Dosage Compensation on the Artemia franciscana Z-Chromosome.

ABSTRACT: Males and females of Artemia franciscana, a crustacean commonly used in the aquarium trade, are highly dimorphic. Sex is determined by a pair of ZW chromosomes, but the nature and extent of differentiation of these chromosomes is unknown. Here, we characterize the Z chromosome by detecting genomic regions that show lower genomic coverage in female than in male samples, and regions that harbor an excess of female-specific SNPs. We detect many Z-specific genes, which no longer have homologs on the W, but also Z-linked genes that appear to have diverged very recently from their existing W-linked homolog. We assess patterns of male and female expression in two tissues with extensive morphological dimorphism, gonads, and heads. In agreement with their morphology, sex-biased expression is common

SUBMITTER: Huylmans AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6456005 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature