Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 1 March 1991:
Vol. 251. no. 4997, pp. 1030 - 1033
DOI: 10.1126/science.1998119
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Science, Vol 251, Issue 4997, 1030-1033
Copyright © 1991 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

The evolution of sex chromosomes

B Charlesworth

Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, IL 60637.

Structurally distinct sex chromosomes (X and Y) are the most familiar mode of genetic sex determination and have evolved independently in many different taxa. The evolutionary paths by which their characteristic properties may have evolved are reviewed. These properties include the failure of X and Y to recombine through much or all of their length, the genetic inertness of much of the Y chromosome, dosage compensation of the activity of X chromosomal loci, and the accumulation of repeated DNA sequences on the Y chromosome.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Coordinated Regulation of Heterochromatic Genes in Drosophila melanogaster Males.
X. Deng, S. K. Koya, Y. Kong, and V. H. Meller (2009)
Genetics 182, 481-491
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recent Spread of a Retrotransposon in the Silene latifolia Genome, Apart From the Y Chromosome.
D. A. Filatov, E. C. Howell, C. Groutides, and S. J. Armstrong (2009)
Genetics 181, 811-817
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
DNA methylation and heterochromatinization in the male-specific region of the primitive Y chromosome of papaya.
W. Zhang, X. Wang, Q. Yu, R. Ming, and J. Jiang (2008)
Genome Res. 18, 1938-1943
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Characterization of the bovine pseudoautosomal boundary: Documenting the evolutionary history of mammalian sex chromosomes.
A.-S. Van Laere, W. Coppieters, and M. Georges (2008)
Genome Res. 18, 1884-1895
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Transitions in Sexuality: Recapitulation of an Ancestral Tri- and Tetrapolar Mating System in Cryptococcus neoformans.
Y.-P. Hsueh, J. A. Fraser, and J. Heitman (2008)
Eukaryot. Cell 7, 1847-1855
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Key Transcription Cofactor on the Nascent Sex Chromosomes of European Tree Frogs (Hyla arborea).
H. Niculita-Hirzel, M. Stock, and N. Perrin (2008)
Genetics 179, 1721-1723
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Unequal Rates of Y Chromosome Gene Divergence during Speciation of the Family Ursidae.
S. Nakagome, J. Pecon-Slattery, and R. Masuda (2008)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 25, 1344-1356
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Do hormonal control systems produce evolutionary inertia?.
E. Adkins-Regan (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 1599-1609
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rapid Evolution of Female-Biased, but Not Male-Biased, Genes Expressed in the Avian Brain.
J. E. Mank, L. Hultin-Rosenberg, E. Axelsson, and H. Ellegren (2007)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 24, 2698-2706
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Simpler mode of inheritance of transcriptional variation in male Drosophila melanogaster.
M. L. Wayne, M. Telonis-Scott, L. M. Bono, L. Harshman, A. Kopp, S. V. Nuzhdin, and L. M. McIntyre (2007)
PNAS 104, 18577-18582
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Early Events in the Evolution of the Silene latifolia Y Chromosome: Male Specialization and Recombination Arrest.
J. Zluvova, S. Georgiev, B. Janousek, D. Charlesworth, B. Vyskot, and I. Negrutiu (2007)
Genetics 177, 375-386
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Linking the Evolution of Gender Variation to Floral Development.
T. R. Meagher (2007)
Ann. Bot. 100, 165-176
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sex chromosome silencing in the marsupial male germ line.
S. H. Namekawa, J. L. VandeBerg, J. R. McCarrey, and J. T. Lee (2007)
PNAS 104, 9730-9735
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Premature arrest of the male flower meristem precedes sexual dimorphism in the dioecious plant Silene latifolia.
J. Zluvova, M. Nicolas, A. Berger, I. Negrutiu, and F. Moneger (2006)
PNAS 103, 18854-18859
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Modeling Extent and Distribution of Zygotic Disequilibrium: Implications for a Multigenerational Canine Pedigree.
T. Liu, R. J. Todhunter, Q. Lu, L. Schoettinger, H. Li, R. C. Littell, N. Burton-Wurster, G. M. Acland, G. Lust, and R. Wu (2006)
Genetics 174, 439-453
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genomic organization of the sex-determining and adjacent regions of the sex chromosomes of medaka.
M. Kondo, U. Hornung, I. Nanda, S. Imai, T. Sasaki, A. Shimizu, S. Asakawa, H. Hori, M. Schmid, N. Shimizu, et al. (2006)
Genome Res. 16, 815-826
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
X-Linked Genes Evolve Higher Codon Bias in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis.
N. D. Singh, J. C. Davis, and D. A. Petrov (2005)
Genetics 171, 145-155
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Program of Sex Chromosome Pairing in Meiosis Is Highly Conserved Across Marsupial Species: Implications for Sex Chromosome Evolution.
J. Page, S. Berrios, M. T. Parra, A. Viera, J. A. Suja, I. Prieto, J. L. Barbero, J. S. Rufas, and R. Fernandez-Donoso (2005)
Genetics 170, 793-799
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Anisogamy, Expenditure of Reproductive Effort, and the Optimality of Having Two Sexes.
M. A. Epelman, S. Pollock, B. Netter, and B. S. Low (2005)
Operations Research 53, 560-567
   Abstract »    PDF »
Environmentally induced variation in fecundity compensation in the morph-biased male-sterile distylous shrub Erythroxylum havanense (Erythroxylaceae).
L. F. Rosas, J. Perez-Alquicira, and C. A. Dominguez (2005)
Am. J. Botany 92, 116-122
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phylogenetic Assessment of Introns and SINEs Within the Y Chromosome Using the Cat Family Felidae As a Species Tree.
J. Pecon-Slattery, A. J. Pearks Wilkerson, W. J. Murphy, and S. J. O'Brien (2004)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 2299-2309
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Shared Forces of Sex Chromosome Evolution in Haploid-Mating and Diploid-Mating Organisms: Microbotryum violaceum and Other Model Organisms.
M. E. Hood, J. Antonovics, and B. Koskella (2004)
Genetics 168, 141-146
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Exceptional conservation of horse-human gene order on X chromosome revealed by high-resolution radiation hybrid mapping.
T. Raudsepp, E.-J. Lee, S. R. Kata, C. Brinkmeyer, J. R. Mickelson, L. C. Skow, J. E. Womack, and B. P. Chowdhary (2004)
PNAS 101, 2386-2391
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sex Differences in Structure and Expression of the Sex Chromosome Genes CHD1Z and CHD1W in Zebra Finches.
R. J. Agate, M. Choe, and A. P. Arnold (2004)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 384-396
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sequence Differentiation Associated With an Inversion on the Neo-X Chromosome of Drosophila americana.
B. F. McAllister (2003)
Genetics 165, 1317-1328
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A slippery boundary.
A. G. Clark (2003)
PNAS 100, 4971-4972
   Full Text »    PDF »
Genomic Sequence and Transcriptional Profile of the Boundary Between Pericentromeric Satellites and Genes on Human Chromosome Arm 10p.
J. Guy, T. Hearn, M. Crosier, J. Mudge, L. Viggiano, D. Koczan, H.-J. Thiesen, J. A. Bailey, J. E. Horvath, E. E. Eichler, et al. (2003)
Genome Res. 13, 159-172
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Multicopy genes uniquely amplified in the Y chromosome-specific repeats of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha.
K. Ishizaki, Y. Shimizu-Ueda, S. Okada, M. Yamamoto, M. Fujisawa, K. T. Yamato, H. Fukuzawa, and K. Ohyama (2002)
Nucleic Acids Res. 30, 4675-4681
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mating-Type Locus of Cryptococcus neoformans: a Step in the Evolution of Sex Chromosomes.
K. B. Lengeler, D. S. Fox, J. A. Fraser, A. Allen, K. Forrester, F. S. Dietrich, and J. Heitman (2002)
Eukaryot. Cell 1, 704-718
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dimorphic Mating-Type Chromosomes in the Fungus Microbotryum violaceum.
M. E. Hood (2002)
Genetics 160, 457-461
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mapping of Sex Determination Loci on the White Campion (Silene latifolia) Y Chromosome Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism.
S. Lebel-Hardenack, E. Hauser, T. F. Law, J. Schmid, and S. R. Grant (2002)
Genetics 160, 717-725
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genetic Structure of the Mating-Type Locus of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
P. J. Ferris, E. V. Armbrust, and U. W. Goodenough (2002)
Genetics 160, 181-200
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Differential Divergence of Three Human Pseudoautosomal Genes and Their Mouse Homologs: Implications for Sex Chromosome Evolution.
F. Gianfrancesco, R. Sanges, T. Esposito, S. Tempesta, E. Rao, G. Rappold, N. Archidiacono, J. A.M. Graves, A. Forabosco, and M. D'Urso (2001)
Genome Res. 11, 2095-2100
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Analysis and Evolution of Two Functional Y-Linked Loci in a Plant Sex Chromosome System.
I. Atanassov, C. Delichere, D. A. Filatov, D. Charlesworth, I. Negrutiu, and F. Moneger (2001)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 18, 2162-2168
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Tetracycline-inducible systems for Drosophila.
M. J. Stebbins, S. Urlinger, G. Byrne, B. Bello, W. Hillen, and J. C. P. Yin (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Investigating stem cells in human colon by using methylation patterns.
Y. Yatabe, S. Tavare, and D. Shibata (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Modifications of cellulose synthase confer resistance to isoxaben and thiazolidinone herbicides in Arabidopsis Ixr1 mutants.
W.-R. Scheible, R. Eshed, T. Richmond, D. Delmer, and C. Somerville (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Glucagon receptor activates extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 via cAMP-dependent protein kinase.
Y. Jiang, A. M. Cypess, E. D. Muse, C.-R. Wu, C. G. Unson, R. B. Merrifield, and T. P. Sakmar (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cloning and characterization of PIMT, a protein with a methyltransferase domain, which interacts with and enhances nuclear receptor coactivator PRIP function.
Y. Zhu, C. Qi, W.-Q. Cao, A. V. Yeldandi, M. Sambasiva Rao, and J. K. Reddy (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Global differential gene expression in response to growth temperature alteration in group A Streptococcus.
L. M. Smoot, J. C. Smoot, M. R. Graham, G. A. Somerville, D. E. Sturdevant, C. A. L. Migliaccio, G. L. Sylva, and J. M. Musser (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Does oxidative damage to DNA increase with age?.
M. L. Hamilton, H. Van Remmen, J. A. Drake, H. Yang, Z. M. Guo, K. Kewitt, C. A. Walter, and A. Richardson (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
cAMP acts as a second messenger in pollen tube growth and reorientation.
A. Moutinho, P. J. Hussey, A. J. Trewavas, and R. Malho (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Y chromosome in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha has accumulated unique repeat sequences harboring a male-specific gene.
S. Okada, T. Sone, M. Fujisawa, S. Nakayama, M. Takenaka, K. Ishizaki, K. Kono, Y. Shimizu-Ueda, T. Hanajiri, K. T. Yamato, et al. (2001)
PNAS 98, 9454-9459
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Quantitative Genetic Analysis of Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Structured Populations of Silene vulgaris.
D. R. Taylor, M. S. Olson, and D. E. McCauley (2001)
Genetics 158, 833-841
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Multiple and Independent Cessation of Recombination Between Avian Sex Chromosomes.
H. Ellegren and A. Carmichael (2001)
Genetics 158, 325-331
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Human Y Chromosome, Sex Determination, and Spermatogenesis--A Feminist View.
J. A. Marshall Graves (2000)
Biol Reprod 63, 667-676
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Novel gene conversion between X-Y homologues located in the nonrecombining region of the Y chromosome in Felidae (Mammalia).
J. Pecon Slattery, L. Sanner-Wachter, and S. J. O'Brien (2000)
PNAS 97, 5307-5312
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The mating-type and pathogenicity locus of the fungus Ustilago hordei spans a 500-kb region.
N. Lee, G. Bakkeren, K. Wong, J. E. Sherwood, and J. W. Kronstad (1999)
PNAS 96, 15026-15031
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Escapees on the X chromosome.
C. M. Disteche (1999)
PNAS 96, 14180-14182
   Full Text »    PDF »
Role of the male specific lethal (msl) Genes in Modifying the Effects of Sex Chromosomal Dosage in Drosophila.
U. Bhadra, M. Pal-Bhadra, and J. A. Birchler (1999)
Genetics 152, 249-268
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Sexual Dimorphism in White Campion: Deletion on the Y Chromosome Results in a Floral Asexual Phenotype.
I. Farbos, J. Veuskens, B. Vyskot, M. Oliveira, S. Hinnisdaels, A. Aghmir, A. Mouras, and I. Negrutiu (1999)
Genetics 151, 1187-1196
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Sex and Conflict.
L. Partridge and Laurence D. Hurst (1998)
Science 281, 2003-2008
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Evolution of the avian sex chromosomes from an ancestral pair of autosomes.
A.-K. Fridolfsson, H. Cheng, N. G. Copeland, N. A. Jenkins, H.-C. Liu, T. Raudsepp, T. Woodage, B. Chowdhary, J. Halverson, and H. Ellegren (1998)
PNAS 95, 8147-8152
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Patterns of Y and X Chromosome DNA Sequence Divergence During the Felidae Radiation.
J. P. Slattery and S. J. O'Brien (1998)
Genetics 148, 1245-1255
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Functional Coherence of the Human Y Chromosome.
B. T. Lahn and D. C. Page (1997)
Science 278, 675-680
   Abstract »    Full Text »
A comparison of the properties of Sox-3 with Sry and two related genes, Sox-1 and Sox-2.
J Collignon, S Sockanathan, A Hacker, M Cohen-Tannoudji, D Norris, S Rastan, M Stevanovic, P. Goodfellow, and R Lovell-Badge (1996)
Development 122, 509-520
   Abstract »    PDF »
The human Y chromosome: a 43-interval map based on naturally occurring deletions.
D Vollrath, S Foote, A Hilton, L. Brown, P Beer-Romero, J. Bogan, and D. Page (1992)
Science 258, 52-59
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sexually antagonistic genes: experimental evidence.
W. Rice (1992)
Science 256, 1436-1439
   Abstract »    PDF »
The human sex-reversing ATRX gene has a homologue on the marsupial Y chromosome, ATRY: Implications for the evolution of mammalian sex determination.
A. Pask, M. B. Renfree, and J. A. Marshall Graves (2000)
PNAS 97, 13198-13202
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)