Miniscule differences between sex chromosomes in the giant genome of a salamander

Melissa C. Keinath; Nataliya Timoshevskaya; Vladimir A. Timoshevskiy; S. Randal Voss; Jeramiah J. Smith

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36209-2

Miniscule differences between sex chromosomes in the giant genome of a salamander

Melissa C. Keinath, Nataliya Timoshevskaya, Vladimir A. Timoshevskiy, S. Randal Voss, Jeramiah J. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

In the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), sex is determined by a single Mendelian factor, yet its sex chromosomes do not exhibit morphological differentiation typical of many vertebrate taxa that possess a single sex-determining locus. As sex chromosomes are theorized to differentiate rapidly, species with undifferentiated sex chromosomes provide the opportunity to reconstruct early events in sex chromosome evolution. Whole genome sequencing of 48 salamanders, targeted chromosome sequencing and in situ hybridization were used to identify the homomorphic sex chromosome that carries an A. mexicanum sex-determining factor and sequences that are present only on the W chromosome. Altogether, these sequences cover ~300 kb of validated female-specific (W chromosome) sequence, representing ~1/100,000^th of the 32 Gb genome. Notably, a recent duplication of ATRX, a gene associated with mammalian sex-determining pathways, is one of few functional (non-repetitive) genes identified among these W-specific sequences. This duplicated gene (ATRW) was used to develop highly predictive markers for diagnosing sex and represents a strong candidate for a recently-acquired sex determining locus (or sexually antagonistic gene) in A. mexicanum.

Original language	English
Article number	17882
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	8
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36209-2
State	Published - Dec 1 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health through their support of this project (R24OD010435), the Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center (P40OD019794), (R01GM104123), and by the Army Research Office (W911NF1110475). The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of National Institute of Health or the Army Research Office.

Funders	Funder number
Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center	P40OD019794, R01GM104123
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
NIH Office of the Director	R24OD010435
Army Research Office	W911NF1110475

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abstract = "In the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), sex is determined by a single Mendelian factor, yet its sex chromosomes do not exhibit morphological differentiation typical of many vertebrate taxa that possess a single sex-determining locus. As sex chromosomes are theorized to differentiate rapidly, species with undifferentiated sex chromosomes provide the opportunity to reconstruct early events in sex chromosome evolution. Whole genome sequencing of 48 salamanders, targeted chromosome sequencing and in situ hybridization were used to identify the homomorphic sex chromosome that carries an A. mexicanum sex-determining factor and sequences that are present only on the W chromosome. Altogether, these sequences cover \textasciitilde{}300 kb of validated female-specific (W chromosome) sequence, representing \textasciitilde{}1/100,000th of the 32 Gb genome. Notably, a recent duplication of ATRX, a gene associated with mammalian sex-determining pathways, is one of few functional (non-repetitive) genes identified among these W-specific sequences. This duplicated gene (ATRW) was used to develop highly predictive markers for diagnosing sex and represents a strong candidate for a recently-acquired sex determining locus (or sexually antagonistic gene) in A. mexicanum.",

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AU - Timoshevskiy, Vladimir A.

AU - Voss, S. Randal

AU - Smith, Jeramiah J.

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Miniscule differences between sex chromosomes in the giant genome of a salamander

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