Abstract
Sex chromosomes are typically viewed as having originated from a pair of autosomes, and differentiated as the sex-limited chromosome (e.g. Y) has degenerated by losing most genes through cessation of recombination. While often thought that degenerated sex-limited chromosomes primarily affect traits involved in sex determination and sex cell production, accumulating evidence suggests they also influence traits not sex-limited or directly involved in reproduction. Here, we provide an overview of the effects of sex-limited chromosomes on non-reproductive traits in XY, ZW or UV sex determination systems, and discuss evolutionary processes maintaining variation at sex-limited chromosomes and molecular mechanisms affecting non-reproductive traits.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 156 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | BMC Biology |
| Volume | 20 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 Jul 6 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Genetics and Genomics
- Evolutionary Biology
Free keywords
- Gene expression
- Heterochromatin
- Loss of chromosome Y
- Sex differences
- UV chromosomes
- W chromosome
- Y chromosome