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Convergence and divergence in sex-chromosome evolution

Nature Genetics volume 49, pages 321–322 (2017)Cite this article

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A sequence assembly of the chicken W chromosome enables reconstruction of the gene content of the W chromosome across 14 bird species and shows striking similarities in the maintenance of broadly expressed and dosage-sensitive genes on highly degenerate sex chromosomes in both birds and mammals. However, the chicken W chromosome is not enriched for genes with expression in female-specific tissues, providing an intriguing contrast to the acquisition and amplification of genes with testis-specific expression on mammalian Y chromosomes and suggesting that the inheritance of chromosomes solely through females or males can lead to different evolutionary outcomes.

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Figure 1: Schematics of the X and Y chromosomes from a human male karyotype (left) and of the Z and W chromosomes from a chicken female karyotype (right).

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  1. Catherine L. Peichel is at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,

    Catherine L Peichel

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  1. Catherine L Peichel
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Correspondence to Catherine L Peichel.

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Peichel, C. Convergence and divergence in sex-chromosome evolution. Nat Genet 49, 321–322 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3797

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