XIV.—The Genetical and Mechanical Properties of the Sex Chromosome. VI. Hexacentrus mundus

1940 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-181
Author(s):  
P. C. Koller
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Meiotic Division ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
The Other ◽  
Single Sex ◽  
Heterogametic Sex

Cytological studies carried out by McClung (1905, 1914) on various species of Orthoptera have shown that the male is the heterogametic sex. The male has only one X-chromosome, whereas the female has two. During spermatogenesis two kinds of gametes are produced, one with the X-chromosome and the other without it. It was also found that the segregation of the single sex chromosome takes place at first meiotic anaphase. The present paper describes the sex chromosome of the male Hexacentrus mundus Walker, from India. During the meiotic division this chromosome exhibits peculiarities which it is believed have not hitherto been seen in any species of the Orthopteræ.

scholarly journals Memoirs: Marsupial Spermatogenesis

1923 ◽  
Vol s2-67 (266) ◽  
pp. 203-218
Author(s):  
A. W. GREENWOOD
Keyword(s):  
Y Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Meiotic Division ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pachytene Stage ◽  
Late Pachytene ◽  
Early Pachytene ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
And Function

In the three animals studied the total number of chromosomes in the male is as follows : Phascolarctus 16 (14 autosomes + XY). Sarcophilus 14 (12 autosomes + XY). Dasyurus 14 (12 autosomes + XY). In the female the number of chromosomes is as follows : Phascolarctus 16 (14 autosomes + XX). Sarcophilus 14 (12 autosomes + XX). In all animals dealt with in this paper the Y-chromosome is very minute in size compared with the other chromosomes; also the X-chromosome is much smaller than any of the autosomes. Chromomeres are conspicuous during syndesis, early pachytene, and early diplotene stages. The early pachytene stage is followed by a late pachytene stage in which the threads become diffuse and lose their capacity for taking up the stain. Except in the early meiotic prophase the sex chromosome remains compact and deeply stained and does not thread out like the autosomes. In all the above animals the first meiotic division is reductional, separating the X- and the Y-chromosomes, and the second division is equational, in each cell the sex chromosome dividing. The spermatozoa are therefore of two kinds, one containing an X-chromosome and the other containing a Y-chromosome. No further reduction in the number of chromosomes takes place during the second meiotic division. The Y-chromosome could not be identified during the meiotic phase until the metaphase of the first meiotic division. At this stage in Phascolarctus the sex chromosomes are separate and do not form a bivalent. The archoplasm seems to exert some influence on the chromatin threads at synizesis and during the early pachytene stage. In the former case the contraction takes place to that side of the nucleus at which the archoplasmic mass is situated; in the latter the chromosomes are in the form of thick loops with the ends of the chromosomes pointing towards the archoplasmic mass. In Phascolarctus the Sertoli cells are very large and possess peculiar rod-like bodies, the origin and function of which was not arrived at. The result of experiments seem to show that the rods are not affected by the action of digestive fluids.

scholarly journals Bisection of the X chromosome disrupts the initiation of chromosome silencing during meiosis in Caenorhabditis elegans

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yisrael Rappaport ◽  
Hanna Achache ◽  
Roni Falk ◽  
Omer Murik ◽  
Oren Ram ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Rna Polymerase Ii ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Transcription Analysis ◽  
X Chromosomes ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
Active Transcription ◽  
Heterogametic Sex

AbstractDuring meiosis, gene expression is silenced in aberrantly unsynapsed chromatin and in heterogametic sex chromosomes. Initiation of sex chromosome silencing is disrupted in meiocytes with sex chromosome-autosome translocations. To determine whether this is due to aberrant synapsis or loss of continuity of sex chromosomes, we engineered Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes with non-translocated, bisected X chromosomes. In early meiocytes of mutant males and hermaphrodites, X segments are enriched with euchromatin assembly markers and active RNA polymerase II staining, indicating active transcription. Analysis of RNA-seq data showed that genes from the X chromosome are upregulated in gonads of mutant worms. Contrary to previous models, which predicted that any unsynapsed chromatin is silenced during meiosis, our data indicate that unsynapsed X segments are transcribed. Therefore, our results suggest that sex chromosome chromatin has a unique character that facilitates its meiotic expression when its continuity is lost, regardless of whether or not it is synapsed.

scholarly journals The sex with the reduced sex chromosome dies earlier: a comparison across the tree of life

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 20190867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe A. Xirocostas ◽  
Susan E. Everingham ◽  
Angela T. Moles
Keyword(s):  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Chromosome Morphology ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Fundamental Understanding ◽  
Female Longevity ◽  
Heterogametic Sex

Many taxa show substantial differences in lifespan between the sexes. However, these differences are not always in the same direction. In mammals, females tend to live longer than males, while in birds, males tend to live longer than females. One possible explanation for these differences in lifespan is the unguarded X hypothesis, which suggests that the reduced or absent chromosome in the heterogametic sex (e.g. the Y chromosome in mammals and the W chromosome in birds) exposes recessive deleterious mutations on the other sex chromosome. While the unguarded X hypothesis is intuitively appealing, it had never been subject to a broad test. We compiled male and female longevity data for 229 species spanning 99 families, 38 orders and eight classes across the tree of life. Consistent with the unguarded X hypothesis, a meta-analysis showed that the homogametic sex, on average, lives 17.6% longer than the heterogametic sex. Surprisingly, we found substantial differences in lifespan dimorphism between female heterogametic species (in which the homogametic sex lives 7.1% longer) and male heterogametic species (in which the homogametic sex lives 20.9% longer). Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering chromosome morphology in addition to sexual selection and environment as potential drivers of sexual dimorphism, and advance our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that shape an organism's lifespan.

scholarly journals YY males of the dioecious plant Mercurialis annua are fully viable but produce largely infertile pollen

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinji Li ◽  
Paris Veltsos ◽  
Guillaume Cossard ◽  
Jörn Gerchen ◽  
John R. Pannell
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Chromosome Evolution ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Sequence Divergence ◽  
Sex Chromosome Evolution ◽  
Dioecious Plant ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Heterogametic Sex ◽  
Mercurialis Annua

SummaryThe suppression of recombination during sex-chromosome evolution is thought to be favoured by linkage between the sex-determining locus and sexually-antagonistic loci, and leads to the degeneration of the chromosome restricted to the heterogametic sex. Despite substantial evidence for genetic degeneration at the sequence level, the phenotypic effects of the earliest stages of sex-chromosome evolution are poorly known. Here, we compare the morphology, viability and fertility between XY and YY individuals produced by crossing seed-producing males in the dioecious plant Mercurialis annua L., which has young sex chromosomes with limited X-Y sequence divergence. We found no significant difference in viability or vegetative morphology between XY and YY males. However, electron microscopy revealed clear differences in pollen anatomy, and YY males were significantly poorer sires in competition with their XY counterparts. Our study suggests either that the X chromosome is required for full male fertility in M. annua, or that male fertility is sensitive to the dosage of relevant Y-linked genes. We discuss the possibility that the maintenance of male-fertility genes on the X chromosome might have been favoured in recent population expansions, which selected for the ability of females to produce pollen in the absence of males.

scholarly journals Guppy Y Chromosome Integrity Maintained by Incomplete Recombination Suppression

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 965-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulia Darolti ◽  
Alison E Wright ◽  
Judith E Mank
Keyword(s):  
Y Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Recombination Suppression ◽  
Sex Chromosome System ◽  
Chromosome Integrity ◽  
Heterogametic Sex

Abstract The loss of recombination triggers divergence between the sex chromosomes and promotes degeneration of the sex-limited chromosome. Several livebearers within the genus Poecilia share a male-heterogametic sex chromosome system that is roughly 20 Myr old, with extreme variation in the degree of Y chromosome divergence. In Poecilia picta, the Y is highly degenerate and associated with complete X chromosome dosage compensation. In contrast, although recombination is restricted across almost the entire length of the sex chromosomes in Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia wingei, divergence between the X chromosome and the Y chromosome is very low. This clade therefore offers a unique opportunity to study the forces that accelerate or hinder sex chromosome divergence. We used RNA-seq data from multiple families of both P. reticulata and P. wingei, the species with low levels of sex chromosome divergence, to differentiate X and Y coding sequences based on sex-limited SNP inheritance. Phylogenetic tree analyses reveal that occasional recombination has persisted between the sex chromosomes for much of their length, as X- and Y-linked sequences cluster by species instead of by gametolog. This incomplete recombination suppression maintains the extensive homomorphy observed in these systems. In addition, we see differences between the previously identified strata in the phylogenetic clustering of X–Y orthologs, with those that cluster by chromosome located in the older stratum, the region previously associated with the sex-determining locus. However, recombination arrest appears to have expanded throughout the sex chromosomes more gradually instead of through a stepwise process associated with inversions.

scholarly journals High progesterone during avian meiosis biases sex ratios toward females

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M Correa ◽  
Elizabeth Adkins-Regan ◽  
Patricia A Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Polar Body ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Steroid Production ◽  
Primary Sex Ratio ◽  
Heterogametic Sex ◽  
Meiosis I

Evidence of altered primary sex ratios in birds shows that mothers can manipulate the sex of their offspring before oviposition. In birds, females are the heterogametic sex (ZW) and males are homogametic (ZZ). Sex is determined in the first meiotic division, when one sex chromosome is retained in the oocyte and the other segregates to the polar body. Altered primary sex ratios suggest that birds may be capable of biasing the segregation of sex chromosomes during meiosis I. During the time of meiosis I, follicular steroid production is limited primarily to progesterone (P4). We experimentally manipulated the levels of P4 in female domestic chickens during the approximate time of meiosis I. We advanced the ovulation of the first egg of a sequence (or clutch) with a subcutaneous injection of P4. We found a significant effect of P4 dose on the sex of the resulting egg. The high progesterone group produced 25% males whereas the low progesterone group produced 61% males and the control group produced 63% males in the first ovulation of the sequence. We propose that variation in maternal progesterone during the critical time for genetic sex determination is the mechanism for primary sex ratio manipulation in birds.

Intersexuality in Lymantria dispar (L.). A reassessment

1980 ◽  
Vol 206 (1165) ◽  
pp. 381-394 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Single Dose ◽  
Sex Determination ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Lymantria Dispar ◽  
Female Parent ◽  
The Other ◽  
Double Dose ◽  
Geographical Race ◽  
Heterogametic Sex ◽  
Female Determinant

R. Goldschmidt worked on intersexuality in the Lepidoptera for many years up to 1934 and the moth Lymantria dispar was his chief experi­mental material. According to him, an intersexual insect develops for a time as one sex and then changes to the other, though the chromosomal sex remains that of the original zygote. If the change takes place early enough in development, e. g. at the formation of the gonads, the whole insect appears to be sexually converted, whereas, if it occurs later, only those structures formed towards the end of development, e. g. the wings, will be affected. Goldschmidt held that, within races, a fixed dosage of female determinant, carried maternally in the cytoplasm or in the Y chromosome and elaborated into the cytoplasm, outweighs the effect of a single dose of male determinant carried in one X chromosome in the heterogametic sex, here the female. In the homogametic sex the double dose of X chromo­somes is balanced against the single dose of female determinant received from the female parent, and results in a male. Moreover, a certain min­imum excess in either direction is required for normal sex determination. He held that, while the relative values of the sex determinants always conform to this plan, their absolute values may differ from one geographical race to another. Consequently, intersexuality due to lack of correct balance between the sex determinants may arise in different ratios when distinct races are crossed. Its degree and type, whether male converted towards female or the reverse, are controlled by the races and sexes used. Since sex abnormalities have appeared, but only sporadically, in more recent genetic work involving race crosses in mimetic butterflies, we decided to reassess Goldschmidt’s results. On repeating those of his crosses that he regarded as the most funda­mental, between German and Japanese material, we bred a number of intersexes, but there were marked discrepancies between his and our overall findings. The matter is discussed and it is shown that the accuracy of the Goldschmidt hypothesis can now be tested in much more detail by using the heterochromatin body in the larva as a prospective marker of chromosomal sex in the adult.

SEX CHROMOSOME TRANSLOCATIONS IN THE EVOLUTION OF REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION

Genetics ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-333
Author(s):  
Martin L Tracey
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Hybrid Sterility ◽  
Fixation Probability ◽  
Chromosomal Imbalance ◽  
Haldane’S Rule ◽  
Chromosome Translocations ◽  
Haldane's Rule ◽  
Heterogametic Sex

ABSTRACT Haldane's rule states that in organisms with differentiated sex chromosomes, hybrid sterility or inviability is generally expressed more frequently in the heterogametic sex. This observation has been variously explained as due to either genic or chromosomal imbalance. The fixation probabilities and mean times to fixation of sex-chromosome translocations of the type necessary to explain Haldane's rule on the basis of chromosomal imbalance have been estimated in small populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The fixation probability of an X chromosome carrying the long arm of the Y(X.YL) is approximately 30% greater than expected under the assumption of no selection. No fitness differences associated with the attached YL segment were detected. The fixation probability of a deficient Y chromosome is 300% greater than expected when the X chromosome contains the deleted portion of the Y. It is suggested that sex-chromosome translocations may play a role in the establishment of reproductive isolation.

Autoradiographic study of transcription and dosage compensation in the sex and neo-sex chromosome of Drosophila nasuta nasuta and Drosophila nasuta albomicans

Genome ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Mahesh ◽  
N B Ramachandra ◽  
H A Ranganath
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Dosage Compensation ◽  
Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Autoradiographic Study ◽  
The Other ◽  
Chromosomal Races ◽  
Heteromorphic Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Drosophila Nasuta ◽  
Drosophila Nasuta Nasuta

Cellular autoradiography is used to study the transcription patterns of the polytene X chromosomes in Drosophila nasuta nasuta and D. n. albomicans. D. n. nasuta, with 2n = 8, includes a pair of complete heteromorphic sex chromosomes, whereas D. n. albomicans, with 2n = 6, has a pair of metacentric neo-sex chromosomes representing incomplete heteromorphic sex chromosomes. The neo-X chromosome has two euchromatic arms, one representing the ancestral X while the other represents the ancestral autosome 3 chromosomes. The metacentric neo-Y chromosome has one arm with a complete heterochromatic ancestral Y and the other arm with a euchromatic ancestral autosome 3. The transcription study has revealed that the X chromosome in D. n. nasuta is hyperactive, suggesting complete dosage compensation, while in the neo-X chromosome of D. n. albomicans the ancestral X chromosome is hyperactive and the ancestral autosome 3, which is part of the neo-sex chromosome, is similar to any other autosomes. This finding shows dosage compensation on one arm (XLx/–) of the neo-X chromosome, while the other arm (XR3/YR3) is not dosage compensated and has yet to acquire the dosage compensatory mechanism.Key words: Drosophila, chromosomal races, neo-sex chromosome, transcription and dosage compensation.

scholarly journals How did the guppy Y chromosome evolve?

PLoS Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. e1009704
Author(s):  
Deborah Charlesworth ◽  
Roberta Bergero ◽  
Chay Graham ◽  
Jim Gardner ◽  
Karen Keegan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Y Chromosome ◽  
X Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Genetic Recombination ◽  
The Other ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
Suppressed Recombination ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Male Coloration

The sex chromosome pairs of many species do not undergo genetic recombination, unlike the autosomes. It has been proposed that the suppressed recombination results from natural selection favouring close linkage between sex-determining genes and mutations on this chromosome with advantages in one sex, but disadvantages in the other (these are called sexually antagonistic mutations). No example of such selection leading to suppressed recombination has been described, but populations of the guppy display sexually antagonistic mutations (affecting male coloration), and would be expected to evolve suppressed recombination. In extant close relatives of the guppy, the Y chromosomes have suppressed recombination, and have lost all the genes present on the X (this is called genetic degeneration). However, the guppy Y occasionally recombines with its X, despite carrying sexually antagonistic mutations. We describe evidence that a new Y evolved recently in the guppy, from an X chromosome like that in these relatives, replacing the old, degenerated Y, and explaining why the guppy pair still recombine. The male coloration factors probably arose after the new Y evolved, and have already evolved expression that is confined to males, a different way to avoid the conflict between the sexes.

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