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Garcia-Raventós A, Muñoz-Mérida A, Lapiedra O, Unzeta M, Ferrandiz-Rovira M, Sol D. Identification of sex-linked SNP markers in wild populations of monomorphic birds. Mol Ecol Resour 2023; 23:1905-1913. [PMID: 37675830 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis is a powerful tool for population genetics, pedigree reconstruction and phenotypic trait mapping. However, the untapped potential of SNP markers to discriminate the sex of individuals in species with reduced sexual dimorphism or of individuals during immature stages remains a largely unexplored avenue. Here, we developed a novel protocol for molecular sexing of birds based on the detection of unique Z- and W-linked SNP markers. Our method is based on the identification of two unique loci, one in each sexual chromosome. Individuals are considered males when they show no calls for the W-linked SNP and are heterozygous or homozygous for the Z-linked SNP, while females exhibit both Z- and W-linked SNP calls. We validated the method in the Jackdaw (Corvus monedula). The reduced sexual dimorphism in this species makes it difficult to identify the sex of individuals in the wild. We assessed the reliability of the method using 36 individuals of known sex and found that their sex was correctly assigned in 100% of cases. The sex-linked markers also proved to be widely applicable for discriminating males and females from a sample of 927 genotyped individuals at different maturity stages, with an accuracy of 99.5%. Since SNP markers are increasingly used in quantitative genetic analyses of wild populations, the approach we propose has great potential to be integrated into broader genetic research programmes without the need for additional sexing techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Antonio Muñoz-Mérida
- CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
| | | | | | | | - Daniel Sol
- CREAF, Catalonia, Spain
- CSIC, Catalonia, Spain
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Trujillo N, Martínez-Pacheco M, Soldatini C, Ancona S, Young RC, Albores-Barajas YV, Orta AH, Rodríguez C, Székely T, Drummond H, Urrutia AO, Cortez D. Lack of age-related mosaic loss of W chromosome in long-lived birds. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210553. [PMID: 35193370 PMCID: PMC8864339 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Females and males often exhibit different survival in nature, and it has been hypothesized that sex chromosomes may play a role in driving differential survival rates. For instance, the Y chromosome in mammals and the W chromosome in birds are often degenerated, with reduced numbers of genes, and loss of the Y chromosome in old men is associated with shorter life expectancy. However, mosaic loss of sex chromosomes has not been investigated in any non-human species. Here, we tested whether mosaic loss of the W chromosome (LOW) occurs with ageing in wild birds as a natural consequence of cellular senescence. Using loci-specific PCR and a target sequencing approach we estimated LOW in both young and adult individuals of two long-lived bird species and showed that the copy number of W chromosomes remains constant across age groups. Our results suggest that LOW is not a consequence of cellular ageing in birds. We concluded that the inheritance of the W chromosome in birds, unlike the Y chromosome in mammals, is more stable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy Trujillo
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, UNAM, CP62210, Cuernavaca, México
| | - Mónica Martínez-Pacheco
- Laboratorio de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, CP76010, Querétaro, México
| | - Cecilia Soldatini
- Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada - Unidad La Paz, Calle Miraflores 334, CP23050, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México
| | - Sergio Ancona
- Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Rebecca C Young
- Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Yuri V Albores-Barajas
- CONACYT. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Av. Insurgentes Sur 1582, Col. Crédito Constructor. Alcaldía Benito Juárez, CP03940, Ciudad de México, México.,Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur., Km. 5.5 Carr. 1. La Paz, Baja California Sur, México
| | - Alberto H Orta
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, UNAM, CP62210, Cuernavaca, México
| | - Cristina Rodríguez
- Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Tamas Székely
- Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.,Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen H-4032, Hungary
| | - Hugh Drummond
- Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Araxi O Urrutia
- Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, CP04510, Ciudad de México, México.,Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Diego Cortez
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, UNAM, CP62210, Cuernavaca, México
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Assersohn K, Brekke P, Hemmings N. Physiological factors influencing female fertility in birds. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:202274. [PMID: 34350009 PMCID: PMC8316823 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Fertility is fundamental to reproductive success, but not all copulation attempts result in a fertilized embryo. Fertilization failure is especially costly for females, but we still lack a clear understanding of the causes of variation in female fertility across taxa. Birds make a useful model system for fertility research, partly because their large eggs are easily studied outside of the female's body, but also because of the wealth of data available on the reproductive productivity of commercial birds. Here, we review the factors contributing to female infertility in birds, providing evidence that female fertility traits are understudied relative to male fertility traits, and that avian fertility research has been dominated by studies focused on Galliformes and captive (relative to wild) populations. We then discuss the key stages of the female reproductive cycle where fertility may be compromised, and make recommendations for future research. We particularly emphasize that studies must differentiate between infertility and embryo mortality as causes of hatching failure, and that non-breeding individuals should be monitored more routinely where possible. This review lays the groundwork for developing a clearer understanding of the causes of female infertility, with important consequences for multiple fields including reproductive science, conservation and commercial breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Assersohn
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Patricia Brekke
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Nicola Hemmings
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
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Sánchez L, Chaouiya C. Logical modelling uncovers developmental constraints for primary sex determination of chicken gonads. J R Soc Interface 2019; 15:rsif.2018.0165. [PMID: 29792308 PMCID: PMC6000168 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2018.0165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 05/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In the chicken, sex determination relies on a ZZ (male)/ZW (female) chromosomal system, but underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. The Z-dosage and the dominant W-chromosome hypotheses have been proposed to underlie primary sex determination. We present a modelling approach, which assembles the current knowledge and permits exploration of the regulation of this process in chickens. Relying on published experimental data, we assembled a gene network, which led to a logical model that integrates both the Z-dosage and dominant W hypotheses. This model showed that the sexual fate of chicken gonads results from the resolution of the mutual inhibition between DMRT1 and FOXL2, where the initial amount of DMRT1 product determines the development of the gonads. In this respect, at the initiation step, a W-factor would function as a secondary device, by reducing the amount of DMRT1 in ZW gonads when the sexual fate of the gonad is settled, that is when the SOX9 functional level is established. Developmental constraints that are instrumental in this resolution were identified. These constraints establish qualitative restrictions regarding the relative transcription rates of the genes DMRT1, FOXL2 and HEMGN. Our model further clarified the role of OESTROGEN in maintaining FOXL2 function during ovary development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Sánchez
- Dpto. Biología Celular y Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (C. S. I. C.), Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Claudine Chaouiya
- Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência - IGC, Rua da Quinta Grande, 6, 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal
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Rovatsos M, Augstenová B, Altmanová M, Sloboda M, Kodym P, Kratochvíl L. Triploid Colubrid Snake Provides Insight into the Mechanism of Sex Determination in Advanced Snakes. Sex Dev 2018; 12:251-255. [PMID: 29913458 DOI: 10.1159/000490124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The advanced snakes (Caenophidia), the important amniote lineage encompassing more than 3,000 living species, possess highly conserved female heterogamety across all families. However, we still lack any knowledge on the gene(s) and the molecular mechanism controlling sex determination. Triploid individuals spontaneously appear in populations of diploid species and can provide an important insight into the evolution of sex determination. Here, we report a case of spontaneous triploidy in a male of the twin-spotted ratsnake (Elaphe bimaculata) with ZZW sex chromosomes. We speculate that as both ZZ and ZZW individuals develop male gonads, the ratio between the number of Z chromosomes and autosomes, and not the presence of the W chromosome in the genome, drives sex determination in the advanced snakes.
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Alam SMI, Sarre SD, Gleeson D, Georges A, Ezaz T. Did Lizards Follow Unique Pathways in Sex Chromosome Evolution? Genes (Basel) 2018; 9:E239. [PMID: 29751579 PMCID: PMC5977179 DOI: 10.3390/genes9050239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/26/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Reptiles show remarkable diversity in modes of reproduction and sex determination, including high variation in the morphology of sex chromosomes, ranging from homomorphic to highly heteromorphic. Additionally, the co-existence of genotypic sex determination (GSD) and temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) within and among sister clades makes this group an attractive model to study and understand the evolution of sex chromosomes. This is particularly so with Lizards (Order Squamata) which, among reptiles, show extraordinary morphological diversity. They also show no particular pattern of sex chromosome degeneration of the kind observed in mammals, birds and or even in snakes. We therefore speculate that sex determination sensu sex chromosome evolution is labile and rapid and largely follows independent trajectories within lizards. Here, we review the current knowledge on the evolution of sex chromosomes in lizards and discuss how sex chromosome evolution within that group differs from other amniote taxa, facilitating unique evolutionary pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephen D Sarre
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra 2616, Australia.
| | - Dianne Gleeson
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra 2616, Australia.
| | - Arthur Georges
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra 2616, Australia.
| | - Tariq Ezaz
- Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra 2616, Australia.
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Küpper C, Augustin J, Edwards S, Székely T, Kosztolányi A, Burke T, Janes DE. Triploid plover female provides support for a role of the W chromosome in avian sex determination. Biol Lett 2012; 8:787-9. [PMID: 22647929 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Two models, Z Dosage and Dominant W, have been proposed to explain sex determination in birds, in which males are characterized by the presence of two Z chromosomes, and females are hemizygous with a Z and a W chromosome. According to the Z Dosage model, high dosage of a Z-linked gene triggers male development, whereas the Dominant W model postulates that a still unknown W-linked gene triggers female development. Using 33 polymorphic microsatellite markers, we describe a female triploid Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus identified by characteristic triallelic genotypes at 14 autosomal markers that produced viable diploid offspring. Chromatogram analysis showed that the sex chromosome composition of this female was ZZW. Together with two previously described ZZW female birds, our results suggest a prominent role for a female determining gene on the W chromosome. These results imply that avian sex determination is more dynamic and complex than currently envisioned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clemens Küpper
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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The avian Z-linked gene DMRT1 is required for male sex determination in the chicken. Nature 2009; 461:267-71. [DOI: 10.1038/nature08298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 599] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2009] [Accepted: 07/21/2009] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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Smith CA, Roeszler KN, Hudson QJ, Sinclair AH. Avian sex determination: what, when and where? Cytogenet Genome Res 2007; 117:165-73. [PMID: 17675857 DOI: 10.1159/000103177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2006] [Accepted: 09/13/2006] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex is determined genetically in all birds, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. All species have a ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system characterised by female (ZW) heterogamety, but the chromosomes themselves can be heteromorphic (in most birds) or homomorphic (in the flightless ratites). Sex in birds might be determined by the dosage of a Z-linked gene (two in males, one in females) or by a dominant ovary-determining gene carried on the W sex chromosome, or both. Sex chromosome aneuploidy has not been conclusively documented in birds to differentiate between these possibilities. By definition, the sex chromosomes of birds must carry one or more sex-determining genes. In this review of avian sex determination, we ask what, when and where? What is the nature of the avian sex determinant? When should it be expressed in the developing embryo, and where is it expressed? The last two questions arise due to evidence suggesting that sex-determining genes in birds might be operating prior to overt sexual differentiation of the gonads into testes or ovaries, and in tissues other than the urogenital system.
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Affiliation(s)
- C A Smith
- Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and University of Melbourne, Department of Paediatrics, Royal Childrens Hospital, Parkville, Australia.
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Parks KP, Seidle H, Wright N, Sperry JB, Bieganowski P, Howitz K, Wright DL, Brenner C. Altered specificity of Hint-W123Q supports a role for Hint inhibition by ASW in avian sex determination. Physiol Genomics 2004; 20:12-4. [PMID: 15507519 PMCID: PMC2556054 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00204.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Hint is a universally conserved, dimeric AMP-lysine hydrolase encoded on the avian Z chromosome. Tandemly repeated on the female-specific W chromosome, Asw encodes a potentially sex-determining, dominant-negative Hint dimerization partner whose substrate-interacting residues were specifically altered in evolution. To test the hypothesis that Gln127 of Asw is responsible for depression and/or alteration of Hint enzyme activity, a corresponding mutant was created in the chicken Hint homodimer, and a novel substrate was developed that links reversal of AMP-lysine modification to aminomethylcoumarin release. Strikingly, the Hint-W123Q substitution reduced k(cat)/K(m) for AMP-lysine hydrolysis 17-fold, while it increased specificity for AMP-para-nitroaniline hydrolysis by 160-fold. The resulting 2,700-fold switch in enzyme specificity suggests that Gln127 could be the dominant component of Asw dominant negativity in avian feminization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen P Parks
- Department of Genetics, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire 03756, USA
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