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Genetics

The vital Y chromosome

Nature volume 508, pages 463–464 (2014)Cite this article

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Comparisons of Y-chromosome sequences in various mammals reveal abundant gene loss early in the chromosome's evolution but remarkable gene stability across the Y chromosomes of extant species. See Articles p.488 & p.494

The evolution of the mammalian X and Y sex-determining chromosomes from ancestral chromosomes is thought to have occurred through a rapid loss of genes from the Y chromosome. This idea of rapid degeneration1 has been bolstered by observations made during the emergence of new Y chromosomes or Y chromosome segments in fruit flies2. In this issue, Bellott et al.3 (page 494) and Cortez et al.4 (page 488) present extensive accounts of gene evolution on the Y chromosome. They show that, although there was a period of rapid degeneration and gene loss during its early evolution, the genes that are conserved across the Y chromosomes of extant mammals (and the sex-determining W chromosomes of birds) have since been remarkably stable. The researchers' data also provide a detailed picture of the evolutionary forces acting on the sex chromosomes, and offer a plausible explanation for the functional coherence of Y-linked genes across these species.

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Figure 1: Small but stable.

Power and Syred/SPL

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  1. Andrew G. Clark is in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.,

    Andrew G. Clark

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  1. Andrew G. Clark
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Correspondence to Andrew G. Clark.

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Clark, A. The vital Y chromosome. Nature 508, 463–464 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/508463a

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