Sex from W to Z: evolution of vertebrate sex chromosomes and sex determining genes - PubMed

Affiliations

• PMID: 11555852
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1088

Review

Sex from W to Z: evolution of vertebrate sex chromosomes and sex determining genes

J A Marshall Graves et al. J Exp Zool. 2001.

Abstract

Sex determination in major vertebrate groups appears to be very variable, including systems of male heterogamety, female heterogamety and a variety of genetic and environmental sex determining systems. Yet comparative studies of sex chromosomes and sex determining genes now suggest that these differences are more apparent than real. The sex chromosomes of even widely divergent groups now appear to have changed very little over the last 300+ million years, and even independently derived sex chromosomes seem to have followed the same set of evolutionary rules. The sex determining pathway seems to be extremely conserved, although the control of the genes in this pathway is vested in different elements. We present a scenario for the independent evolution of XY male heterogamety in mammals and ZW female heterogamety in birds and some reptiles. We suggest that sex determining genes can be made redundant, and replaced by control at another step of a conserved sex determining pathway, and how choice of a gene as a sex switch has led to the evolution of new sex chromosome systems. J. Exp. Zool. 290:449-462, 2001.

Similar articles

• Sex, genes, and heat: triggers of diversity.

  Western PS, Sinclair AH. Western PS, et al. J Exp Zool. 2001 Nov 1;290(6):624-31. doi: 10.1002/jez.1113. J Exp Zool. 2001. PMID: 11748611 Review.

• The evolution of sex chromosomes and sex determination in vertebrates and the key role of DMRT1.

  Ferguson-Smith M. Ferguson-Smith M. Sex Dev. 2007;1(1):2-11. doi: 10.1159/000096234. Sex Dev. 2007. PMID: 18391511 Review.

• Sex chromosome differentiation and the W- and Z-specific loci in Xenopus laevis.

  Mawaribuchi S, Takahashi S, Wada M, Uno Y, Matsuda Y, Kondo M, Fukui A, Takamatsu N, Taira M, Ito M. Mawaribuchi S, et al. Dev Biol. 2017 Jun 15;426(2):393-400. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.06.015. Epub 2016 Jun 11. Dev Biol. 2017. PMID: 27297884

• Weird animal genomes and the evolution of vertebrate sex and sex chromosomes.

  Marshall Graves JA. Marshall Graves JA. Annu Rev Genet. 2008;42:565-86. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.42.110807.091714. Annu Rev Genet. 2008. PMID: 18983263 Review.

• Avian sex, sex chromosomes, and dosage compensation in the age of genomics.

  Graves JA. Graves JA. Chromosome Res. 2014 Apr;22(1):45-57. doi: 10.1007/s10577-014-9409-9. Chromosome Res. 2014. PMID: 24599719 Review.

Cited by

• Sex identification in embryos and adults of Darwin's finches.

  Dobreva MP, Lynton-Jenkins JG, Chaves JA, Tokita M, Bonneaud C, Abzhanov A. Dobreva MP, et al. PLoS One. 2021 Mar 5;16(3):e0237687. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237687. eCollection 2021. PLoS One. 2021. PMID: 33667220 Free PMC article.

• Comparative genome analysis of the primary sex-determining locus in salmonid fishes.

  Woram RA, Gharbi K, Sakamoto T, Hoyheim B, Holm LE, Naish K, McGowan C, Ferguson MM, Phillips RB, Stein J, Guyomard R, Cairney M, Taggart JB, Powell R, Davidson W, Danzmann RG. Woram RA, et al. Genome Res. 2003 Feb;13(2):272-80. doi: 10.1101/gr.578503. Genome Res. 2003. PMID: 12566405 Free PMC article.

• Bird-like sex chromosomes of platypus imply recent origin of mammal sex chromosomes.

  Veyrunes F, Waters PD, Miethke P, Rens W, McMillan D, Alsop AE, Grützner F, Deakin JE, Whittington CM, Schatzkamer K, Kremitzki CL, Graves T, Ferguson-Smith MA, Warren W, Marshall Graves JA. Veyrunes F, et al. Genome Res. 2008 Jun;18(6):965-73. doi: 10.1101/gr.7101908. Epub 2008 May 7. Genome Res. 2008. PMID: 18463302 Free PMC article.

• Are some chromosomes particularly good at sex? Insights from amniotes.

  O'Meally D, Ezaz T, Georges A, Sarre SD, Graves JA. O'Meally D, et al. Chromosome Res. 2012 Jan;20(1):7-19. doi: 10.1007/s10577-011-9266-8. Chromosome Res. 2012. PMID: 22218935 Review.

• Temperature, genes, and sex: a comparative view of sex determination in Trachemys scripta and Mus musculus.

  Yao HH, Capel B. Yao HH, et al. J Biochem. 2005 Jul;138(1):5-12. doi: 10.1093/jb/mvi097. J Biochem. 2005. PMID: 16046442 Free PMC article. Review.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Wiley