Dosage-sensitive functions in embryonic development drove the survival of genes on sex-specific chromosomes in snakes, birds, and mammals.

ABSTRACT: Different ancestral autosomes independently evolved into sex chromosomes in snakes, birds, and mammals. In snakes and birds, females are ZW and males are ZZ; in mammals, females are XX and males are XY. Although X and Z Chromosomes retain nearly all ancestral genes, sex-specific W and Y Chromosomes suffered extensive genetic decay. In both birds and mammals, the genes that survived on sex-specific chromosomes are enriched for broadly expressed, dosage-sensitive regulators of gene expression, subject to strong purifying selection. To gain deeper insight into the processes that govern survival on sex-specific chromosomes, we carried out a meta-analysis of survival across 41 species-three snakes, 24 birds, and 14 mammals-doubling the number of ancestral genes under investigation and increasin

SUBMITTER: Bellott DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7849413 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature