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Snake W Sex Chromosome: The Shadow of Ancestral Amniote Super-Sex Chromosome

Singchat, Worapong, Ahmad, Syed Farhan, Laopichienpong, Nararat, Suntronpong, Aorarat, Panthum, Thitipong, Griffin, Darren K., Srikulnath, Kornsorn (2020) Snake W Sex Chromosome: The Shadow of Ancestral Amniote Super-Sex Chromosome. Cells, 9 (11). Article Number 2386. ISSN 2073-4409. (doi:10.3390/cells9112386) (KAR id:84832)

Abstract

Heteromorphic sex chromosomes, particularly the ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system of birds and some reptiles, undergo evolutionary dynamics distinct from those of autosomes. The W sex chromosome is a unique karyological member of this heteromorphic pair, which has been extensively studied in snakes to explore the origin, evolution, and genetic diversity of amniote sex chromosomes. The snake W sex chromosome offers a fascinating model system to elucidate ancestral trajectories that have resulted in genetic divergence of amniote sex chromosomes. Although the principal mechanism driving evolution of the amniote sex chromosome remains obscure, an emerging hypothesis, supported by studies of W sex chromosomes of squamate reptiles and snakes, suggests that sex chromosomes share varied genomic blocks across several amniote lineages. This implies the possible split of an ancestral super-sex chromosome via chromosomal rearrangements. We review the major findings pertaining to sex chromosomal profiles in amniotes and discuss the evolution of an ancestral super-sex chromosome by collating recent evidence sourced mainly from the snake W sex chromosome analysis. We highlight the role of repeat-mediated sex chromosome conformation and present a genomic landscape of snake Z and W chromosomes, which reveals the relative abundance of major repeats, and identifies the expansion of certain transposable elements. The latest revolution in chromosomics, i.e., complete telomere-to-telomere assembly, offers mechanistic insights into the evolutionary origin of sex chromosomes.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.3390/cells9112386
Uncontrolled keywords: chromosomal rearrangements; evolution; genome; next-generation sequencing; sex determination; repeat elements
Subjects: Q Science
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Biosciences
Depositing User: Darren Griffin
Date Deposited: 17 Dec 2020 12:39 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 19:00 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/84832 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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