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The rise and fall of the ancient northern pike master sex-determining gene

  • Qiaowei Pan
  • , Romain Feron
  • , Elodie Jouanno
  • , Hugo Darras
  • , Amaury Herpin
  • , Ben Koop
  • , Eric Rondeau
  • , Frederick W Goetz
  • , Wesley A Larson
  • , Louis Bernatchez
  • , Mike Tringali
  • , Stephen S Curran
  • , Eric Saillant
  • , Gael PJ Denys
  • , Frank A von Hippel
  • , Songlin Chen
  • , J Andrés López
  • , Hugo Verreycken
  • , Konrad Ocalewicz
  • , Rene Guyomard
  • Camille Eche, Jerome Lluch, Celine Roques, Hongxia Hu, Roger Tabor, Patrick DeHaan, Krista M Nichols, Laurent Journot, Hugues Parrinello, Christophe Klopp, Elena A Interesova, Vladimir Trifonov, Manfred Schartl, John Postlethwait, Yann Guiguen, Molly Przeworski (Editor), Detlef Weigel (Editor)

Research output: Contribution to journalA1: Web of Science-articlepeer-review

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Abstract

The understanding of the evolution of variable sex determination mechanisms across taxa requires comparative studies among closely related species. Following the fate of a known master sex-determining gene, we traced the evolution of sex determination in an entire teleost order (Esociformes). We discovered that the northern pike (Esox lucius) master sex-determining gene originated from a 65 to 90 million-year-old gene duplication event and that it remained sex linked on undifferentiated sex chromosomes for at least 56 million years in multiple species. We identified several independent species- or population-specific sex determination transitions, including a recent loss of a Y chromosome. These findings highlight the diversity of evolutionary fates of master sex-determining genes and the importance of population demographic history in sex determination studies. We hypothesize that occasional sex reversals and genetic bottlenecks provide a non-adaptive explanation for sex determination transitions.
Original languageEnglish
JournaleLife
Volume10
Pages (from-to)e62858
ISSN2050-084X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28-Jan-2021

Thematic List 2020

  • Water
  • Other

Taxonomic list

  • bony fishes (Osteichtyes)

Geographic list

  • Europe
  • New World (North, Central and South America)

Technological

  • genetic technologies

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