Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In animals with heteromorphic sex chromosomes, dosage compensation of sex-chromosome genes is thought to be critical for species survival. Diverse molecular mechanisms have evolved to effectively balance the expressed dose of X-linke...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2007-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Biology |
| Online Access: | http://jbiol.com/content/6/1/2 |
| _version_ | 1811316202636574720 |
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| author | Itoh Yuichiro Melamed Esther Yang Xia Kampf Kathy Wang Susanna Yehya Nadir Van Nas Atila Replogle Kirstin Band Mark R Clayton David F Schadt Eric E Lusis Aldons J Arnold Arthur P |
| author_facet | Itoh Yuichiro Melamed Esther Yang Xia Kampf Kathy Wang Susanna Yehya Nadir Van Nas Atila Replogle Kirstin Band Mark R Clayton David F Schadt Eric E Lusis Aldons J Arnold Arthur P |
| author_sort | Itoh Yuichiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In animals with heteromorphic sex chromosomes, dosage compensation of sex-chromosome genes is thought to be critical for species survival. Diverse molecular mechanisms have evolved to effectively balance the expressed dose of X-linked genes between XX and XY animals, and to balance expression of X and autosomal genes. Dosage compensation is not understood in birds, in which females (ZW) and males (ZZ) differ in the number of Z chromosomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using microarray analysis, we compared the male:female ratio of expression of sets of Z-linked and autosomal genes in two bird species, zebra finch and chicken, and in two mammalian species, mouse and human. Male:female ratios of expression were significantly higher for Z genes than for autosomal genes in several finch and chicken tissues. In contrast, in mouse and human the male:female ratio of expression of X-linked genes is quite similar to that of autosomal genes, indicating effective dosage compensation even in humans, in which a significant percentage of genes escape X-inactivation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Birds represent an unprecedented case in which genes on one sex chromosome are expressed on average at constitutively higher levels in one sex compared with the other. Sex-chromosome dosage compensation is surprisingly ineffective in birds, suggesting that some genomes can do without effective sex-specific sex-chromosome dosage compensation mechanisms.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:44:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-318a48cd797647109aa3984cce166b15 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1478-5854 1475-4924 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:44:48Z |
| publishDate | 2007-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-318a48cd797647109aa3984cce166b152022-12-22T02:48:12ZengBMCJournal of Biology1478-58541475-49242007-03-0161210.1186/jbiol53Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammalsItoh YuichiroMelamed EstherYang XiaKampf KathyWang SusannaYehya NadirVan Nas AtilaReplogle KirstinBand Mark RClayton David FSchadt Eric ELusis Aldons JArnold Arthur P<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In animals with heteromorphic sex chromosomes, dosage compensation of sex-chromosome genes is thought to be critical for species survival. Diverse molecular mechanisms have evolved to effectively balance the expressed dose of X-linked genes between XX and XY animals, and to balance expression of X and autosomal genes. Dosage compensation is not understood in birds, in which females (ZW) and males (ZZ) differ in the number of Z chromosomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using microarray analysis, we compared the male:female ratio of expression of sets of Z-linked and autosomal genes in two bird species, zebra finch and chicken, and in two mammalian species, mouse and human. Male:female ratios of expression were significantly higher for Z genes than for autosomal genes in several finch and chicken tissues. In contrast, in mouse and human the male:female ratio of expression of X-linked genes is quite similar to that of autosomal genes, indicating effective dosage compensation even in humans, in which a significant percentage of genes escape X-inactivation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Birds represent an unprecedented case in which genes on one sex chromosome are expressed on average at constitutively higher levels in one sex compared with the other. Sex-chromosome dosage compensation is surprisingly ineffective in birds, suggesting that some genomes can do without effective sex-specific sex-chromosome dosage compensation mechanisms.</p>http://jbiol.com/content/6/1/2 |
| spellingShingle | Itoh Yuichiro Melamed Esther Yang Xia Kampf Kathy Wang Susanna Yehya Nadir Van Nas Atila Replogle Kirstin Band Mark R Clayton David F Schadt Eric E Lusis Aldons J Arnold Arthur P Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals Journal of Biology |
| title | Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals |
| title_full | Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals |
| title_fullStr | Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals |
| title_short | Dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals |
| title_sort | dosage compensation is less effective in birds than in mammals |
| url | http://jbiol.com/content/6/1/2 |
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