Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jason M. Sardell, Matthew P. Josephson, Anne C. Dalziel, Catherine L. Peichel, Mark Kirkpatrick
Summary: By comparing closely related species with homologous sex chromosomes, researchers have found that the sex chromosomes of the blackspotted stickleback experienced independent and more extensive recombination suppression, greater X-Y differentiation, and a much higher rate of Y degeneration than the other two species. This could be due to the smaller effective population size in the blackspotted stickleback. Additionally, a recent fusion between the ancestral blackspotted stickleback Y chromosome and Chromosome 12 may have been favored by the very small size of the recombining region on the ancestral sex chromosome.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Marine Duhamel, Fantin Carpentier, Dominik Begerow, Michael E. Hood, Ricardo C. Rodriguez de la Vega, Tatiana Giraud
Summary: Researchers found that recombination suppression between mating-type chromosomes occurred in multiple steps and at least nine independent events linked the mating-type loci together in Microbotryum fungi. Chromosomal rearrangements and recombination suppression are evolutionary mechanisms leading to phenotypic convergence.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Nina Vittorelli, Ricardo Rodriguez de la Vega, Alodie Snirc, Emilie V. Levert, Valerie Gautier, Christophe Lalanne, Elsa De Filippo, Pierre E. Gladieux, Sonia Guillou, Yu Zhang, Sravanthi Tejomurthula, Igor Grigoriev, Robert Debuchy, Philippe Silar, Tatiana Giraud, Fanny Hartmann
Summary: Recombination suppression is observed at sex-determining loci in plants and animals, as well as at self-incompatibility or mating-type loci in plants and fungi. In this study, we found that Schizothecium tetrasporum, a fungus from the Sordariales order, also produces mostly self-fertile dikaryotic spores carrying the two opposite mating types due to recombination suppression around the mating-type locus. Our findings indicate a convergent evolution of self-fertile dikaryotic sexual spores across multiple ascomycete fungi and provide insights into the evolutionary causes of recombination suppression.
Article
Ecology
Colin Olito, Suvi Ponnikas, Bengt Hansson, Jessica K. Abbott
Summary: The evolution of suppressed recombination between sex chromosomes is influenced by beneficial mutations, with small inversions eventually becoming harmful. Factors such as inversion size, mutation rate, and the dominance coefficient of deleterious mutations play a key role in the evolutionary process. The results suggest that deleterious genetic variation can drive recombination suppression in small steps.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joanna L. Rifkin, Felix E. G. Beaudry, Zoe Humphries, Baharul Choudhury, Spencer C. H. Barrett, Stephen Wright
Summary: The study suggests that low recombination rates may precede the formation of sex-linked regions, with large regions of recombination suppression found across all chromosomes. Additionally, gene and repetitive sequence density are correlated with recombination rates, with the variation patterns differing by repetitive element type.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Daniel L. Jeffries, Jorn F. Gerchen, Mathias Scharmann, John R. Pannell
Summary: The loss of recombination on sex chromosomes may be due to the neutral accumulation of sequence divergence adjacent to the sex determiner. This phenomenon shows certain patterns in natural systems and is influenced by the pre-existing recombination landscape of the genome and sex differences in recombination rates.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biology
Joanna L. Rifkin, Solomiya Hnatovska, Meng Yuan, Bianca M. Sacchi, Baharul Choudhury, Yunchen Gong, Pasi Rastas, Spencer C. H. Barrett, Stephen Wright
Summary: There is growing evidence for sex differences in the genomic landscape of recombination, but the causes and consequences of these differences are still poorly understood. This study provides evidence and characterization of sex differences in recombination landscape in a dioecious plant, suggesting that pre-existing differences in recombination may have contributed to sex chromosome formation and divergence.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pedro Almeida, Benjamin A. Sandkam, Jake Morris, Iulia Darolti, Felix Breden, Judith E. Mank
Summary: The study found that there is significant diversity and divergence in guppy Y chromosomes across different populations and species, with Y chromosome evolution linked to environmental pressures. Contrary to previous assumptions, the experiment results suggest that Y chromosome diversity is mainly influenced by gradual mechanisms of recombination suppression, rather than inversions for achieving sex chromosome recombination suppression.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hanna Sigeman, Maria Strandh, Estelle Proux-Wera, Verena E. Kutschera, Suvi Ponnikas, Hongkai Zhang, Max Lundberg, Lucile Soler, Ignas Bunikis, Maja Tarka, Dennis Hasselquist, Bjorn Nystedt, Helena Westerdahl, Bengt Hansson
Summary: The study reveals the evolutionary history of avian sex chromosomes, including translocation of an added region to Z and W, long-term recombination suppression, and degeneration of the added-W, indicating the complexity and diversity of avian sex chromosome evolution.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Christopher R. Cooney, Judith E. Mank, Alison E. Wright
Summary: Research shows that sex differences in recombination rates are evolutionarily labile and not driven by simple neutral processes, contradicting nonadaptive explanations. While there is potential for adaptive processes in the patterns of heterochiasmy, the direct link to sexual selection or sexual conflict across species is unclear, indicating subtle or complex effects. Additionally, evidence suggests correlated rates of recombination rate evolution between males and females, suggesting genetic constraints and sexual conflict over the recombination landscape.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Anna Torgasheva, Lyubov Malinovskaya, Kira S. Zadesenets, Anastasia Slobodchikova, Elena Shnaider, Nikolai Rubtsov, Pavel Borodin
Summary: Through analyzing nine neognath species, it was found that synapsis and recombination between Z and W chromosomes mainly occur in a short region at the ends, while the remaining parts of the sex chromosomes synapse non-homologously. In some ZW bivalents of the white wagtail, synapsis and recombination also occur at secondary pairing region, possibly resulting from autosome-sex chromosome translocation.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Mark Kirkpatrick, Jason M. Sardell, Brendan J. Pinto, Groves Dixon, Catherine L. Peichel, Manfred Schartl
Summary: This study focuses on the sex chromosomes of the guppy and its close relatives, finding no evidence of a nonrecombining sex-determining region and suggesting that the evolution of sex-determining regions in certain relatives occurred independently. It also addresses conflicting results in previous studies and proposes best practices for future research.
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria F. Torres, Yasmin A. Mohamoud, Shameem Younuskunju, Karsten Suhre, Joel A. Malek
Summary: This study delves into the understanding of sex control in the Phoenix genus, identifying three conserved male genes and confirming an XY sex chromosome system. By investigating male-specific sequences in the date palm Y chromosome, it was found that these sequences have likely spread in defined events, appearing as blocks of varying density.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Katherine E. Hearn, Eva L. Koch, Sean Stankowski, Roger K. Butlin, Rui Faria, Kerstin Johannesson, Anja M. Westram
Summary: Sexual antagonism is a driving force for the evolution of sex chromosomes, and the suppression of recombination between sexually antagonistic loci and the sex-determining locus plays a crucial role in maintaining beneficial combinations of alleles. Chromosomal inversions also contribute to recombination suppression, but their specific role in sex chromosome evolution is still unclear. In this study, the researchers investigated sex determination in the intertidal snail Littorina saxatilis and found evidence for a female-heterogametic sex determination system that is restricted to one ecotype. Four putative chromosomal inversions, including two previously described and two newly discovered inversions, were found to span the putative sex chromosome pair. The associations between these inversions and sex differed between the ecotypes, suggesting the presence of distinct strata of differing ages. These findings indicate a difference in selective regime and provide insights into the interaction between sex chromosomes and the environment in L. saxatilis.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Richard Cordaux, Mohamed Amine Chebbi, Isabelle Giraud, David Richard John Pleydell, Jean Peccoud
Summary: Sex chromosomes are derived from a pair of autosomes that have acquired a locus controlling sex, undergoing reduced recombination and molecular divergence over time. The difficulty in pinpointing sex-controlling loci arises in species with highly diverged sex chromosomes. However, identification of sex-determining regions becomes easier in species with lower genetic divergence on their sex chromosomes.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paul Jay, Annabel Whibley, Lise Frezal, Maria Angeles Rodriguez de Cara, Reuben W. Nowell, James Mallet, Kanchon K. Dasmahapatra, Mathieu Joron
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Paul Jay, Mathieu Chouteau, Annabel Whibley, Heloise Bastide, Hugues Parrinello, Violaine Llaurens, Mathieu Joron
Summary: Chromosomal inversions are common in genomes and can coordinate complex phenotypes, but they accumulate harmful mutations which lead to frequency-dependent selection and hinder their replacement of ancestral chromosome arrangements. This study suggests that complex polymorphisms may evolve due to the intrinsic tendency of chromosomal rearrangements to carry recessive harmful mutations.
Correction
Genetics & Heredity
Paul Jay, Mathieu Chouteau, Annabel Whibley, Heloise Bastide, Hugues Parrinello, Violaine Llaurens, Mathieu Joron
Summary: The paper has been corrected.
Article
Biology
Paul Jay, Manon Leroy, Yann Le Poul, Annabel Whibley, Monica Arias, Mathieu Chouteau, Mathieu Joron
Summary: Supergenes are genetic architectures associated with discrete and concerted variation in multiple traits. This study found that the supergene controlling wing pattern variation in butterflies contains multiple independent loci, and chromosomal inversions suppress recombination between these loci, supporting the hypothesis that supergenes evolve by capturing beneficial combinations of alleles.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Alexander Mackintosh, Dominik R. Laetsch, Tobias Baril, Sam Ebdon, Paul Jay, Roger Vila, Alex Hayward, Konrad Lohse
Summary: This study presents a chromosome-level genome assembly and gene/transposable element annotations for the scarce swallowtail butterfly, Iphiclides podalirius. The researchers found that shorter chromosomes have higher heterozygosity and a greater density of transposable elements, which suggests a counter-intuitive relationship between recombination and transposable element evolution.
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Rebecca L. Stubbs, Spyros Theodoridis, Emiliano Mora-Carrera, Barbara Keller, Giacomo Potente, Narjes Yousefi, Paul Jay, Etienne Leveille-Bourret, Rimjhim Roy Choudhury, Ferhat Celep, Judita Kochjarova, Elena Conti
Summary: Through the study of extensive hybrid zones, we provide evidence of the adaptive role of introgression and its impact on the genomic composition in primroses. We also uncover chloroplast introgression and the absence of introgression in a supergene. These findings highlight the complexity of species boundaries and emphasize the importance of broad genomic and geographical sampling.
Review
Ecology
Emma L. Berdan, Nicholas H. Barton, Roger Butlin, Brian Charlesworth, Rui Faria, Ines Fragata, Kimberly J. Gilbert, Paul Jay, Martin Kapun, Katie E. Lotterhos, Claire Merot, Esra Durmaz Mitchell, Marta Pascual, Catherine L. Peichel, Marina Rafajlovic, Anja M. Westram, Stephen W. Schaeffer, Kerstin Johannesson, Thomas Flatt
Summary: Inversions are structural mutations that have a significant impact on adaptation and speciation. However, their study has been challenging due to reduced recombination and the effects of drift and hitchhiking. This review examines the different mechanisms of selection that affect the evolution of inversions, emphasizing the complexity of analyzing the causes underlying their evolution.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2023)