Seventeen lines, each homozygous for a different X chromosome but all with a common autosomal genetic blackground, were constructed and assayed for abdominal bristle number to determine whether dosage compensation operates for sex-linked genes affecting this character. --The regression coefficient of male mean on female mean using a logarithmic scale was 0.90 +/- 0.13 and the genetic regression...

Several publications in recent years have given conflicting reports upon the inheritance of shank color. Yellow shank color has been reported to be inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion, the sex-linked gene for yellow shank color ( U ) being dominant to its allele (y) , the gene for blue shank color. In contrast to this, the gene for yellow shank color has been reported to be autosomal, the r...

The Y or W sex chromosome of a heteromorphic pair is usually heterochromatinised and degenerated. However, whether degeneration constantly proceeds toward an extreme end not fully understood. Here, we present case intermittent evolution chromosomes caused by interpopulation hybridisation in the Japanese soil-frog, Glandirana rugosa. This species includes two systems, which are separated into ge...

Sex is pivotal for reproduction, healthcare and evolution. In the fish medaka, the Y-chromosomal dmy (also dmrt1bY) serves the sex determiner, which activates dmrt1 for male sex maintenance. However, how dmy makes the male decision via initiating testicular differentiation has remained unknown. Here we report that autosomal gsdf serves a male sex initiator. Gene addition and deletion revealed t...

Sex ratio distortion (sex-ratio for short) has been reported in numerous species such as Drosophila, where distortion can readily be detected in experimental crosses, but the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here we characterize an autosomal sex-ratio suppressor from D. simulans that we designate as not much yang (nmy, polytene chromosome position 87F3). Nmy suppresses an X-linked sex-ratio...

Learned bird song is influenced by inherited predispositions. The canary is a model system for the interaction of genes and learning on behaviour, especially because some strains have undergone artificial selection for song. In this study, roller canaries (bred for low-pitched songs) and border canaries (whose song is higher pitched, similar to the wild-type) were interbred and backcrossed to p...