Article
Evolutionary Biology
Lynda F. Delph, Keely E. Brown, Luis Diego Rios, John K. Kelly
Summary: Sex-specific selection plays a crucial role in the evolution of sexual dimorphism. This study directly measured selection on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in a dioecious plant species and found clear evidence for sex-specific selection. The results highlight the importance of sex-specific fitness effects and provide insights into the genetic basis of sexual dimorphism.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jingjing Yue, Marc Krasovec, Yusuke Kazama, Xingtan Zhang, Wangyang Xie, Shencheng Zhang, Xiuming Xu, Baolin Kan, Ray Ming, Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: White campion is the first vascular plant where sex chromosomes were discovered. The analysis shows a highly heterogeneous recombination landscape with a reduction in recombination rate on all chromosomes. The non-recombining region on the Y chromosome initially evolved in a small region on the q-arm of the X chromosome and later expanded through linkage with the pericentromeric region.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: The evolution of a non-recombining sex-specific region is a key step in sex chromosome evolution. Recombination suppression on sex chromosomes involves multiple mechanisms and remains controversial.
Article
Ecology
Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: The shift of the pseudoautosomal boundary on the sex chromosomes of Silene latifolia has led to an expansion of the non-recombining sex-specific region (NRY), including at least 16 pseudoautosomal genes. The pseudoautosomal genes in this region have elevated genetic diversity, likely due to balancing selection. Interspecific gene flow between S. latifolia and S. dioica may contribute to the recent shift of the pseudoautosomal boundary.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Homa Papoli Yazdi, Colin Olito, Takeshi Kawakami, Per Unneberg, Mads F. Schou, Schalk W. P. Cloete, Bengt Hansson, Charlie K. Cornwallis
Summary: Sex chromosomes have often evolved with extreme size differences due to degeneration, but in some lineages, ancient sex chromosomes have not degenerated. In ostriches, the W chromosome remains large despite being ancient. By analyzing the ostrich genome, researchers found that recombination rate in the pseudoautosomal region (PAR) is higher than autosomes in females, which slows down degeneration. Genetic variation in the sex-linked region (SLR) is lower than in the PAR, while variation in the PAR is similar to autosomes, suggesting high recombination near the boundaries of the PAR prevents linkage with the SLR. The potential for sexually antagonistic alleles to drive degeneration is limited in ostriches.
Article
Fisheries
Thitipong Panthum, Pish Wattanadilokchatkun, Kitipong Jaisamut, Worapong Singchat, Syed Farhan Ahmad, Narongrit Muangmai, Prateep Duengkae, Agostinho Antunes, Kornsorn Srikulnath
Summary: In this study, the male-linked region of the jade perch was identified on chromosome 19, and a remnant of the amh gene was found in this region, which is considered a candidate gene for sex determination in teleosts.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gaorui Gong, Yang Xiong, Shijun Xiao, Xi-Yin Li, Peipei Huang, Qian Liao, Qingqing Han, Qiaohong Lin, Cheng Dan, Li Zhou, Fan Ren, Qi Zhou, Jian-Fang Gui, Jie Mei
Summary: We assembled highly homomorphic Y and X chromosomes in yellow catfish and discovered that the Y chromosome is at an early stage of differentiation with no clear evidence of evolutionary strata and recombination suppression. The accumulation of sex-antagonistic mutations and repetitive elements in the sex-determining region suggests their role in recombination suppression between young X and Y chromosomes. Additionally, we found distinct chromatin organizations and nuclear spatial organization in the YY supermales and XX females, indicating chromatin remodeling after sex reversal.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Vaclav Bacovsky, Tomas Janicek, Roman Hobza
Summary: This study used hydroxyurea cell synchronization and 2D/3D microscopy to determine the position of sex chromosomes during the mitotic cell cycle and explored the upper limit for the expansion of the non-recombining region of sex chromosomes. The results showed that the velocity of large chromosomes is compensated by their distant positioning from the central interpolar axis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Wenjing Tao, Jianmeng Cao, Hesheng Xiao, Xi Zhu, Junjian Dong, Thomas D. Kocher, Maixin Lu, Deshou Wang
Summary: The Mozambique tilapia is an important food fish with males preferred in aquaculture due to their faster growth. Studies have identified XY and ZW sex determination systems in the genome, with shared sex determining regions narrowing down to specific genes. The annotated genome assembly provides valuable insights into the genetic sex determination in tilapias.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Philipp Kaufmann, R. Axel W. Wiberg, Konstantinos Papachristos, Douglas G. Scofield, Christian Tellgren-Roth, Elina Immonen
Summary: The Y chromosome in seed beetles has been found to affect male body size and sexual size dimorphism. Researchers discovered an additional copy of the gene target of rapamycin (TOR) on the Y chromosome, which may provide a male-specific opportunity to alter body size. Despite suppressed recombination, the Y chromosome has adaptive potential as a male-limited supergene.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Chengqing Hu, Jiangcheng Shi, Yujing Chi, Jichun Yang, Qinghua Cui
Summary: The study reveals that X-chromosome-encoded miRNAs have lower expression levels in the left testis of healthy mice, suggesting an imbalanced Y:X ratio between the left and right testis. Additionally, the Y:X ratio is significantly elevated in the left testis but balanced in the right testis according to flow cytometry analysis. This is the first time the biased Y:X ratio in the left testis has been uncovered.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Chang-Xu Tian, Xing-Hua Lin, Da-Yan Zhou, Yu Chen, Yi-Jun Shen, Ming-Hui Ye, Cun-Yu Duan, Yu-Lei Zhang, Bin-Lan Yang, Si-Ping Deng, Chun-Hua Zhu, Guang-Li Li
Summary: This study successfully constructed the high-quality chromosome-level genome of Hong Kong catfish, providing a valuable resource for studying sex determination and evolution mechanisms in this species. The genome of Hong Kong catfish was found to be 933.4 Mb in total length, with 23,345 protein-coding genes, of which 94.28% were functionally annotated in public databases. Comparative genome analysis revealed 60 unique, 353 expanded, and 851 contracted gene families in Hong Kong catfish. Additionally, a sex-determining region related to a quantitative trait locus was identified, containing 785 genes, of which 18 were confirmed as sex-related genes.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Ming Wen, Qiaowei Pan, Wes Larson, Camille Eche, Yann Guiguen
Summary: This study identified the sex determining region (SDR) of channel catfish through genomic DNA sequencing and developed sex-specific markers for genetic sexing. The SDR contains 95 annotated protein-encoding genes, including the putative channel catfish master sex determining (MSD) gene bcar1. A PCR-based sex-specific genetic test was developed and confirmed the male heterogametic (XX-XY) nature of channel catfish.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ayano Horiuchi, Kanae Masuda, Kenta Shirasawa, Noriyuki Onoue, Naoko Fujita, Koichiro Ushijima, Takashi Akagi
Summary: The study reveals that the Y chromosome in persimmon has lost its maleness-determining function and provides insights into the evolutionary process. The nonfunctional male-specific region of the Y chromosome in persimmon shares some characteristics with the original functional region. This study contributes to our understanding of plant sex chromosome evolution.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Shaohua Qi, Conelius Ngwa, Abdullah Al Mamun, Sharmeen Romana, Ting Wu, Sean P. Marrelli, Arthur P. Arnold, Louise D. McCullough, Fudong Liu
Summary: Post-menopausal women are more vulnerable to stroke and have poorer outcomes and higher mortality than age-matched men. Previous studies suggest that sex chromosomes play a vital role in mediating stroke sensitivity. This study using a mouse model found that mice with two X chromosomes had worse stroke outcomes, possibly due to the influence of X chromosome-linked genes and inflammatory responses.
TRANSLATIONAL STROKE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Marine
Marc Krasovec, Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: This study provides a comparative analysis of codon bias across multiple major phytoplankton groups. The results show that most groups have modest codon bias, with Haptophyta having the strongest bias and Chlorarachniophyta having the weakest bias. The optimal codons are typically GC-ending, but shifts to AT-ending codons were observed in Ochrophyta and Ciliophora. The study also highlights the modest codon bias in marine phytoplankton, which can be explained by the lower effective population sizes compared to the astronomically large census population sizes.
JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Tomonari Hirano, Yusuke Kazama, Hisato Kunitake, Tomoko Abe
Summary: Heavy-ion beams have been used as an effective mutagen in plants, and their mutagenic effects are characterized by the linear energy transfer (LET) value. These effects can be observed in plant survival, mutation frequency, and mutation spectrum. When integrating the results, factors such as plant materials, developmental processes, and heredity of induced mutations need to be considered.
Article
Ecology
Greg M. Walter, James Clark, Antonia Cristaudo, Delia Terranova, Bruno Nevado, Stefania Catara, Momchil Paunov, Violeta Velikova, Dmitry Filatov, Salvatore Cozzolino, Simon J. Hiscock, Jon R. Bridle
Summary: The evolution of distinct plastic responses to environmental variation is associated with adaptive divergence in closely related Sicilian daisy species.
Article
Biology
Wei Gong, Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: Sex-determining region (SDR) in Ginkgo biloba is located in the middle of chromosome 2 and is fixed in a region of about 50 Mb, with a small non-recombining region of less than 5 Mb in males. The SDR in Ginkgo is inferred to be of Cretaceous origin based on the synonymous divergence between homologous X- and Y-linked genes. The SDR in Ginkgo exhibits only slight Y-degeneration, consistent with other dioecious plants with homomorphic sex chromosomes.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: The shift of the pseudoautosomal boundary on the sex chromosomes of Silene latifolia has led to an expansion of the non-recombining sex-specific region (NRY), including at least 16 pseudoautosomal genes. The pseudoautosomal genes in this region have elevated genetic diversity, likely due to balancing selection. Interspecific gene flow between S. latifolia and S. dioica may contribute to the recent shift of the pseudoautosomal boundary.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Edgar L. Y. Wong, Simon J. Hiscock, Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: Hybridisation plays a significant role in plant adaptation and speciation, and the genus Senecio has been extensively studied to understand its effects. This article provides an overview of the process of hybridisation and the research conducted in this field, focusing on the genomic, transcriptomic, ecological, and physiological consequences from the perspective of the hybrids. It highlights the importance of hybridisation in promoting adaptation and speciation and the research potential of Senecio.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yusuke Kazama, Moe Kitoh, Taiki Kobayashi, Kotaro Ishii, Marc Krasovec, Yasuo Yasui, Tomoko Abe, Shigeyuki Kawano, Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: This study investigates the evolution of separate sexes in plants and identifies a putative sex-determining gene in Silene latifolia. The study suggests that male and female development in S. latifolia is controlled by the WUSCHEL-CLAVATA feedback loop, with X-linked and Y-linked genes playing distinct roles. The findings provide insights into the evolution of dioecy and the genetic mechanisms underlying sex determination in plants.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Edgar L. Y. Wong, Bruno Nevado, Simon J. J. Hiscock, Dmitry A. A. Filatov
Summary: This study investigates the phenotypic variation and hybrid breakdown in crosses between closely-related species and their homoploid hybrid species, providing insights into the rapid evolution of reproductive incompatibilities despite on-going gene flow.
Article
Cell Biology
Junpei Ueda, Yusuke Kazama, Tomoko Abe, Koji Murai
Summary: The late-heading 1 (lh1) mutant, generated by heavy-ion beam irradiation, partially suppresses the early-flowering phenotype of KU104-2. Under field conditions, lh1 plants head about one week later than KU104-2 and show no other significant differences in agricultural traits. Analysis of plant development in a growth chamber reveals that lh1 mutants exhibit a late-flowering phenotype under short-day conditions, associated with down-regulation of the flowering promoter gene VRN1 in the late vegetative phase.
Article
Ecology
El Mahdi Bendif, Ian Probert, Odysseas A. Archontikis, Jeremy R. Young, Luc Beaufort, Rosalind E. Rickaby, Dmitry Filatov
Summary: This study investigates the evolutionary relationships and ecological adaptations of G. huxleyi morphotypes across different environments. Results show that G. huxleyi is actually composed of at least three distinct species, and their divergence is related to glacial-cycle dynamics.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Dmitry A. Filatov
Summary: The evolution of a non-recombining sex-specific region is a key step in sex chromosome evolution. Recombination suppression on sex chromosomes involves multiple mechanisms and remains controversial.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yunqing Kang, Ovidiu Cretu, Jun Kikkawa, Koji Kimoto, Hiroki Nara, Asep Sugih Nugraha, Hiroki Kawamoto, Miharu Eguchi, Ting Liao, Ziqi Sun, Toru Asahi, Yusuke Yamauchi
Summary: A one-pot wet-chemical reduction approach is used to synthesize PtPdRhRuCu mesoporous nanospheres with adjustable compositions and exposed porous structures. These nanospheres exhibit robust electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activities in alkaline, acidic, and neutral electrolytes. The excellent performance of the PtPdRhRuCu nanospheres is attributed to the synergistic interactions among multiple compositions and the mesoporous structures with excellent mass/electron transportation characteristics.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Deborah Charlesworth, Suo Qiu, Roberta Bergero, Jim Gardner, Karen Keegan, Lengxob Yong, Abigail Hastings, Mateusz Konczal
Summary: Genome sequencing and genetic mapping of the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) have shown that the XY chromosome pair is nearly completely Y-linked. The factors controlling male-specific coloration traits also suggest sexual antagonism. However, occasional exchanges with the X chromosome and varying recombination patterns among natural guppy populations suggest ongoing evolution under selection from partially sex-linked sexual antagonism polymorphisms. Genetic maps were created using molecular markers in males from four guppy populations, and the similarity of these maps suggests that their crossover patterns have remained stable. The maps support previous findings that the terminal region of chromosome 12 is most associated with male traits, but it is incomplete. Additionally, occasional crossovers were observed in the male-determining region, defining a rarely recombining pseudautosomal region (PAR2). These results suggest that the guppy species may lack a completely male-specific region and that the male-determining factor is located within a small repetitive region. A sex-reversed XX male had few crossovers in PAR2, indicating that the low crossover rate in this region is influenced by phenotypic sex rather than genetic sex. Therefore, the presence of rare individuals with differing phenotypic and genetic sexes, as well as occasional PAR2 crossovers in males, may explain the failure to detect fully Y-linked variants in this species.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yunqing Kang, Ovidiu Cretu, Jun Kikkawa, Koji Kimoto, Hiroki Nara, Asep Sugih Nugraha, Hiroki Kawamoto, Miharu Eguchi, Ting Liao, Ziqi Sun, Toru Asahi, Yusuke Yamauchi
Summary: In this study, core-shell PtPdRhRuCu mesoporous nanospheres (PtPdRhRuCu MMNs) were synthesized using a one-pot wet-chemical reduction approach with a diblock copolymer as the soft template. The PtPdRhRuCu MMNs showed adjustable compositions and exposed porous structures rich in highly entropic alloy sites. Electrochemical characterization revealed robust electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activities of the PtPdRhRuCu MMNs in alkaline, acidic, and neutral electrolytes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Horticulture
Ryo Nishijima, Alvin Sanjaya, Harue Shinoyama, Yusuke Kazama
Summary: This study investigated the touch stimulus response in flower buds of Dianthus hybrida. The RNA-seq analysis revealed the upregulation and downregulation of certain genes upon touch treatment. Genes encoding protein kinases were significantly abundant among the upregulated genes, suggesting the importance of protein phosphorylation in touch stimulus response. The findings also showed that phosphorelay signaling is a common mechanism for touch stimulus response in both flowers and leaves, although with different players.