Reconstruction of the birth of a male sex chromosome present in Atlantic herring.

ABSTRACT: The mechanisms underlying sex determination are astonishingly plastic. Particularly the triggers for the molecular machinery, which recalls either the male or female developmental program, are highly variable and have evolved independently and repeatedly. Fish show a huge variety of sex determination systems, including both genetic and environmental triggers. The advent of sex chromosomes is assumed to stabilize genetic sex determination. However, because sex chromosomes are notoriously cluttered with repetitive DNA and pseudogenes, the study of their evolution is hampered. Here we reconstruct the birth of a Y chromosome present in the Atlantic herring. The region is tiny (230 kb) and contains only three intact genes. The candidate male-determining gene BMPR1BBY encodes a truncated

SUBMITTER: Rafati N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7533707 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature