Complex evolutionary trajectories of sex chromosomes across bird taxa

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 346; no. 6215; p. 1332
• Main Authors: Zhou, Qi, Zhang, Jilin, Bachtrog, Doris, An, Na, Huang, Quanfei, Jarvis, Erich D., Gilbert, M. Thomas P., Zhang, Guojie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 12.12.2014; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Avian Proteins - genetics; Biological Evolution; Birds; Birds - classification; Birds - genetics; Chickens; Chickens - genetics; Chromosome Inversion; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes; Decay; Decay rate; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Evolutionary; Evolutionary biology; Female; females; Genes; Genomics; Individualized Instruction; Male; Males; Mammals; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Recombination, Genetic; RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY; Sex; Sex Chromosomes - genetics; Species diversity; Species Specificity; Strata; Struthioniformes - genetics; Synteny; Transcription Factors - genetics; W chromosome; Z chromosome
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1246338

Sex-specific chromosomes, like the W of most female birds and the Y of male mammals, usually have lost most genes owing to a lack of recombination. We analyze newly available genomes of 17 bird species representing the avian phylogenetic range, and find that more than half of them do not have as ful...