Transposons drive sex chromosome evolution

Sex Chromosome Meiotic Drive

How transposons drive evolution of virulence in a fungal pathogen

2 2 Genomic plasticity enables adaptation to changing environments, which is especially relevant 2 3 for pathogens that engage in arms races with their hosts. In many pathogens, genes 2 4 mediating aggressiveness cluster in highly variable, transposon-rich, physically distinct 2 5 genomic compartments. However, understanding of the evolution of these compartments, 2 6 and the role of transposon...

Rapid evolution of a Y-chromosome heterochromatin protein underlies sex chromosome meiotic drive.

Sex chromosome meiotic drive, the non-Mendelian transmission of sex chromosomes, is the expression of an intragenomic conflict that can have extreme evolutionary consequences. However, the molecular bases of such conflicts remain poorly understood. Here, we show that a young and rapidly evolving X-linked heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) gene, HP1D2, plays a key role in the classical Paris sex-ra...

Meiotic drive and sex chromosome cycling.

Sex-linked meiotic drive is found in a broad variety of taxa, including insects, birds, and mammals. In populations of some species, we see four types of sex chromosomes segregating: normal and driving X chromosomes and susceptible and resistant Y chromosomes. A theoretical analysis shows that a stable four-chromosome equilibria is a more common outcome in these systems than previously recogniz...

Sex Chromosome Meiotic Drive in DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER Males.

In Drosophila melanogaster males, deficiency for X heterochromatin causes high X-Y nondisjunction and skewed sex chromosome segregation ratios (meiotic drive). Y and XY classes are recovered poorly because of sperm dysfunction. In this study it was found that X heterochromatic deficiencies disrupt recovery not only of the Y chromosome but also of the X and autosomes, that both heterochromatic a...