A sex-chromosome inversion causes strong overdominance for sperm traits that affect siring success

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. 1177-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Knief ◽  
Wolfgang Forstmeier ◽  
Yifan Pei ◽  
Malika Ihle ◽  
Daiping Wang ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Knief ◽  
Wolfgang Forstmeier ◽  
Bart Kempenaers ◽  
Jochen B. W. Wolf

AbstractPropulsion of sperm cells via movement of the flagellum is of vital importance for successful fertilization. Presumably, the energy for this movement comes from the mitochondria in the sperm midpiece. Larger midpieces may contain more mitochondria, which should enhance the energetic capacity and hence promote mobility. Due to an inversion polymorphism on their sex chromosome TguZ, zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis) exhibit large within-species variation in sperm midpiece length, and those sperm with the longest midpieces swim the fastest. Here, we test through quantitative real-time PCR in zebra finch ejaculates whether the inversion genotype has an effect on the copy number of mitochondrial DNA. Taking the inversion genotype as a proxy for midpiece length, we find that zebra finches with longer midpieces indeed have more copies of the mitochondrial DNA in their ejaculates than those with shorter midpieces, with potential downstream effects on the rate of ATP production and sperm swimming speed. This study sheds light on the proximate cause of a fitness-relevant genetic polymorphism, suggesting the involvement of central components of gamete energy metabolism.Data availabilitySupplementary data file


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1553-1561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett McKinney ◽  
Megan V. McPhee ◽  
Carita Pascal ◽  
James E. Seeb ◽  
Lisa W. Seeb

Many studies exclude loci that exhibit linkage disequilibrium (LD); however, high LD can signal reduced recombination around genomic features such as chromosome inversions or sex-determining regions. Chromosome inversions and sex-determining regions are often involved in adaptation, allowing for the inheritance of co-adapted gene complexes and for the resolution of sexually antagonistic selection through sex-specific partitioning of genetic variants. Genomic features such as these can escape detection when loci with LD are removed; in addition, failing to account for these features can introduce bias to analyses. We examined patterns of LD using network analysis to identify an overlapping chromosome inversion and sex-determining region in chum salmon. The signal of the inversion was strong enough to show up as false population substructure when the entire dataset was analyzed, while the effect of the sex-determining region on population structure was only obvious after restricting analysis to the sex chromosome. Understanding the extent and geographic distribution of inversions is now a critically important part of genetic analyses of natural populations. Our results highlight the importance of analyzing and understanding patterns of LD in genomic dataset and the perils of excluding or ignoring loci exhibiting LD. Blindly excluding loci in LD would have prevented detection of the sex-determining region and chromosome inversion while failing to understand the genomic features leading to high-LD could have resulted in false interpretations of population structure.


Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Bedo

Polytene chromosome banding patterns in Simulium ruficorne populations from two island and a continental African locality were analyzed and a standard map was prepared. Distinct arrays of fixed and polymorphic rearrangements characterize unique cytotypes in Santiago Island, Tenerife, and Ivory Coast populations. Sex-chromosome differentiation where an inversion linked to the male determiner marks a Y chromosome also occurs in the Santiago Island population. No sibling species can be defined at present because of the absence of sympatric population samples. Comparison of banding patterns between S. ruficorne and the S. ornatipes–neornatipes species complex in Australia and New Caledonia shows striking similarities. Banding homology is readily established with about 90% of polytene banding recognizable between the two standards. Three inversions are shared between the lineages, further emphasizing their similarity. These results provide independent corroboration of the close relationship between S. ruficorne and S. ornatipes established from conventional taxonomy. The validity of using shared inversions and common breakpoints in phylogenetic comparisons is discussed in relation to the possibility of confusing similar but distinct rearrangements and the inversion-generating role of transposable elements. The possibility of transposable element mediated identical, independently derived, rearrangements seems unlikely, but in all studies the confusion of phylogenies by similar inversions must be carefully considered.Key words: Simulium ruficorne, polytene chromosome, inversion phylogeny.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett McKinney ◽  
Megan V. McPhee ◽  
Carita Pascal ◽  
James E. Seeb ◽  
Lisa W. Seeb

AbstractMany studies exclude loci exhibiting linkage disequilibrium (LD); however, high LD can signal reduced recombination around genomic features such as chromosome inversions or sex-determining regions. Chromosome inversions and sex-determining regions are often involved in adaptation, allowing for the inheritance of co-adapted gene complexes and for the resolution of sexually antagonistic selection through sex-specific partitioning of genetic variants. Genomic features such as these can escape detection when loci with LD are removed; in addition, failing to account for these features can introduce bias to analyses. We examined patterns of LD using network analysis to identify an overlapping chromosome inversion and sex-determining region in chum salmon. The signal of the inversion was strong enough to show up as false population substructure when the entire dataset was analyzed, while the signal of the sex-determining region was only obvious after restricting genetic analysis to the sex chromosome. Understanding the extent and geographic distribution of inversions is now a critically important part of genetic analyses of natural populations. The results of this study highlight the importance of analyzing and understanding patterns of LD in genomic dataset and the perils of ignoring or excluding loci exhibiting LD.


2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1748) ◽  
pp. 4803-4810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Albrechtová ◽  
Tomáš Albrecht ◽  
Stuart J. E. Baird ◽  
Miloš Macholán ◽  
Geir Rudolfsen ◽  
...  

The house mouse hybrid zone (HMHZ) is a species barrier thought to be maintained by a balance between dispersal and natural selection against hybrids. While the HMHZ is characterized by frequency discontinuities for some sex chromosome markers, there is an unexpected large-scale regional introgression of a Y chromosome across the barrier, in defiance of Haldane's rule. Recent work suggests that a major force maintaining the species barrier acts through sperm traits. Here, we test whether the Y chromosome penetration of the species barrier acts through sperm traits by assessing sperm characteristics of wild-caught males directly in a field laboratory set up in a Y introgression region of the HMHZ, later calculating the hybrid index of each male using 1401 diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We found that both sperm count (SC) and sperm velocity were significantly reduced across the natural spectrum of hybrids. However, SC was more than rescued in the presence of the invading Y. Our results imply an asymmetric advantage for Y chromosome introgression consistent with the observed large-scale introgression. We suggest that selection on sperm-related traits probably explains a large component of patterns observed in the natural hybrid zone, including the Y chromosome penetration.


Heredity ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
M E Drets ◽  
J H Cardoso ◽  
A Navarro

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Hooper

Chromosome inversions evolve frequently but the reasons why remain largely enigmatic. I used cytological descriptions of 410 species of passerine birds (order Passeriformes) to identify pericentric inversion differences between species. Using a new fossil-calibrated phylogeny I examine the phylogenetic, demographic, and genomic context in which these inversions have evolved. The number of inversion differences between closely related species was highly variable yet consistently predicted by a single factor: whether the ranges of species overlapped. This observation holds even when the analysis is restricted to sympatric sister pairs known to hybridize, and which have divergence times estimated similar to allopatric pairs. Inversions were significantly more likely to have fixed on a sex chromosome than an autosome yet variable mutagenic input alone (by chromosome size, map length, GC content, or repeat density) cannot explain the differences between chromosomes in the number of inversions fixed. Together, these results support a model in which inversions in passerines are adaptive and spread by selection when gene flow occurs before reproductive isolation is complete.


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