SOME INCONVENIENT TRUTHS ABOUT SEX CHROMOSOME DOSAGE COMPENSATION AND THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF SEXUAL CONFLICT

Sex chromosome dosage compensation was once thought to be required to balance gene expression levels between sex-linked and autosomal genes in the heterogametic sex. Recent evidence from a range of animals has indicated that although sex chromosome dosage compensation exists in some clades, it is fa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evolution 2011-08, Vol.65 (8), p.2133-2144
Main Authors: Mank, Judith E., Hosken, David J., Wedell, Nina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology
Chromosomes
Dosage Compensation, Genetic
Drosophila
Drosophila melanogaster - genetics
Drosophila melanogaster - physiology
Evolution
Evolution & development
Evolution, Molecular
Evolutionary genomics
Female
Female animals
Gene expression
Gene Expression Regulation
Genes
Genetic dosage compensation
Genomes
Genomics
Male
Male animals
PERSPECTIVE
sex
Sex Characteristics
Sex chromosomes
Sex Chromosomes - genetics
sexual conflict
X chromosome
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Summary:Sex chromosome dosage compensation was once thought to be required to balance gene expression levels between sex-linked and autosomal genes in the heterogametic sex. Recent evidence from a range of animals has indicated that although sex chromosome dosage compensation exists in some clades, it is far from a necessary companion to sex chromosome evolution, and is in fact rather rare in animals. This raises questions about why complex dosage compensation mechanisms arise in some clades when they are not strictly needed, and suggests that the role of sex-specific selection in sex chromosome gene regulation should be reassessed. We show there exists a tremendous diversity in the mechanisms that regulate gene dosage and argue that sexual conflict may be an overlooked agent responsible for some of the variation seen in sex chromosome gene dose regulation.
ISSN:0014-3820
1558-5646
DOI:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01316.x