Drosophila as a Model System for Studying of the Evolution and Functional Specialization of the Y Chromosome

Autor: Alexei A. Kotov, Sergei S. Bazylev, Vladimir E. Adashev, Aleksei S. Shatskikh, Ludmila V. Olenina
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 23, Iss 8, p 4184 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1422-0067
1661-6596
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23084184
Popis: The Y chromosome is one of the sex chromosomes found in males of animals of different taxa, including insects and mammals. Among all chromosomes, the Y chromosome is characterized by a unique chromatin landscape undergoing dynamic evolutionary change. Being entirely heterochromatic, the Y chromosome as a rule preserves few functional genes, but is enriched in tandem repeats and transposons. Due to difficulties in the assembly of the highly repetitive Y chromosome sequence, deep analyses of Y chromosome evolution, structure, and functions are limited to a few species, one of them being Drosophila melanogaster. Despite Y chromosomes exhibiting high structural divergence between even closely related species, Y-linked genes have evolved convergently and are mainly associated with spermatogenesis-related activities. This indicates that male-specific selection is a dominant force shaping evolution of Y chromosomes across species. This review presents our analysis of current knowledge concerning Y chromosome functions, focusing on recent findings in Drosophila. Here we dissect the experimental and bioinformatics data about the Y chromosome accumulated to date in Drosophila species, providing comparative analysis with mammals, and discussing the relevance of our analysis to a wide range of eukaryotic organisms, including humans.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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