Chromosomal Rearrangements during Turtle Evolution Altered the Synteny of Genes Involved in Vertebrate Sex Determination

Cytogenetic and Genome Research
LingSze LeeNicole Valenzuela

Abstract

Sex-determining mechanisms (SDMs) set an individual's sexual fate by its genotype (genotypic sex determination, GSD) or environmental factors like temperature (temperature- dependent sex determination, TSD), as in turtles where the GSD "trigger" remains unknown. SDMs co-evolve with turtle chromosome number, perhaps because fusions/fissions alter the relative position/regulation of sexual development genes. Here, we map 10 such genes via FISH onto metaphase chromosomes in 6 TSD and 6 GSD turtles for the first time. Results uncovered intrachromosomal rearrangements involving 3 genes across SDMs (Dax1, Fhl2, and Fgf9) and a chromosomal fusion linking 2 genes (Sf1 and Rspo1) in 1 chromosome in a TSD turtle (Pelomedusa subrufa) that locate to 2 chromosomes in all others. Notably, Sf1 and its repressor Foxl2 map to Apalone spinifera's ZW chromosomes but to a macro- (Foxl2) and a microautosome (Sf1) in other turtles potentially inducing SDM evolution. However, our phylogenetically informed analysis refutes Foxl2 (but not Sf1) as Apalone's master sex-determining gene. The absence of common TSD-specific or GSD-specific rearrangements underscores the independent evolutionary trajectories of turtle SDMs. Further comparative analyses using...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 1, 2020·Genome Biology and Evolution·Warren Brian SimisonJames B Henderson
Dec 4, 2020·Genetics and Molecular Biology·Caroline Regina Dias MachadoMarcelo Ricardo Vicari
Jul 27, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Basanta BistaNicole Valenzuela
Jul 13, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Matthias StöckYann Guiguen

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