TY - JOUR
T1 - Genome assembly, sex-biased gene expression and dosage compensation in the damselfly Ischnura elegans
AU - Chauhan, Pallavi
AU - Swaegers, Janne
AU - Sánchez-Guillén, Rosa A.
AU - Svensson, Erik I.
AU - Wellenreuther, Maren
AU - Hansson, Bengt
PY - 2021/7/1
Y1 - 2021/7/1
N2 - The evolution of sex chromosomes, and patterns of sex-biased gene expression and dosage compensation, are poorly known among early winged insects such as odonates. We assembled and annotated the genome of Ischnura elegans (blue-tailed damselfly), which, like other odonates, has a male-hemigametic sex-determining system (X0 males, XX females). By identifying X-linked genes in I. elegans and their orthologs in other insect genomes, we found homologies between the X chromosome in odonates and chromosomes of other orders, including the X chromosome in Coleoptera. Next, we showed balanced expression of X-linked genes between sexes in adult I. elegans, i.e. evidence of dosage compensation. Finally, among the genes in the sex-determining pathway only fruitless was found to be X-linked, while only doublesex showed sex-biased expression. This study reveals partly conserved sex chromosome synteny and independent evolution of dosage compensation among insect orders separated by several hundred million years of evolutionary history.
AB - The evolution of sex chromosomes, and patterns of sex-biased gene expression and dosage compensation, are poorly known among early winged insects such as odonates. We assembled and annotated the genome of Ischnura elegans (blue-tailed damselfly), which, like other odonates, has a male-hemigametic sex-determining system (X0 males, XX females). By identifying X-linked genes in I. elegans and their orthologs in other insect genomes, we found homologies between the X chromosome in odonates and chromosomes of other orders, including the X chromosome in Coleoptera. Next, we showed balanced expression of X-linked genes between sexes in adult I. elegans, i.e. evidence of dosage compensation. Finally, among the genes in the sex-determining pathway only fruitless was found to be X-linked, while only doublesex showed sex-biased expression. This study reveals partly conserved sex chromosome synteny and independent evolution of dosage compensation among insect orders separated by several hundred million years of evolutionary history.
KW - Damselflies
KW - Dosage compensation
KW - Genome assembly
KW - Ischnura elegans
KW - Sex chromosomes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104793281&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.04.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 33831439
AN - SCOPUS:85104793281
SN - 0888-7543
VL - 113
SP - 1828
EP - 1837
JO - Genomics
JF - Genomics
IS - 4
ER -