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Evolution of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals

Nature volume 250, pages 651–653 (1974)Cite this article

Abstract

IT is now well established that in the somatic cells of mammals only a single X chromosome is active in coding for proteins, no matter how many are present1,2, but the mechanism and evolutionary origin of this phenomenon still remain unsolved problems. Cooper3 suggested that the random inactivation of X chromosomes derived from either parent in eutherian mammals had evolved from a more primitive inactivation of the paternally derived X chromosome as seen in marsupials, and a possible mechanism for this evolution has been put forward4. Lifschytz and Lindsley5 further suggested that the inactivation seen in somatic cells had evolved from inactivation of both sex chromosomes in male gametogenesis, a phenomenon that is general in gametes of the heterogametic sex of many species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Radiobiology Unit, Harwell, Oxon, OX11 0RD, UK

    MARY F. LYON

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  1. MARY F. LYON
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LYON, M. Evolution of X-chromosome inactivation in mammals. Nature 250, 651–653 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/250651a0

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