title: The evolutionary history of human and chimpanzee Y-chromosome gene loss.
abstract: Recent studies have suggested that gene gain and loss may contribute significantly to the divergence between humans and chimpanzees. Initial comparisons of the human and chimpanzee Y-chromosomes indicate that chimpanzees have a disproportionate loss of Y-chromosome genes, which may have implications for the adaptive evolution of sex-specific as well as reproductive traits, especially because one of the genes lost in chimpanzees is critically involved in spermatogenesis in humans. Here we have characterized Y-chromosome sequences in gorilla, bonobo, and several chimpanzee subspecies for 7 chimpanzee gene-disruptive mutations. Our analyses show that 6 of these gene-disruptive mutations predate chimpanzee-bonobo divergence at approximately 1.8 MYA, which indicates significant Y-chromosome change in the chimpanzee lineage relatively early in the evolutionary divergence of humans and chimpanzees.
authors.affiliation: Center for Evolutionary Functional Genomics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: George H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Raul Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Tito
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Verrelli
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019974:Pan paniscus / Q000235:genetics; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers