title: Convergence and divergence in sex-chromosome evolution.
abstract: A sequence assembly of the chicken W chromosome enables reconstruction of the gene content of the W chromosome across 14 bird species and shows striking similarities in the maintenance of broadly expressed and dosage-sensitive genes on highly degenerate sex chromosomes in both birds and mammals. However, the chicken W chromosome is not enriched for genes with expression in female-specific tissues, providing an intriguing contrast to the acquisition and amplification of genes with testis-specific expression on mammalian Y chromosomes and suggesting that the inheritance of chromosomes solely through females or males can lead to different evolutionary outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7731-8944
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Peichel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D040582:Inheritance Patterns; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics*; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D012730:Sex Chromosomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism