Abstract

Sex determination mechanisms often differ even between related species yet the evolution of sex chromosomes remains poorly understood in all but a few model organisms. Some nematodes such as Caenorhabditis elegans have an XO sex determination system while others, such as the filarial parasite Brugia malayi, have an XY mechanism. We present a complete B. malayi genome assembly and define Nigon elements shared with C. elegans, which we then map to the genomes of other filarial species and more distantly related nematodes. We find a remarkable plasticity in sex chromosome evolution with several distinct cases of neo-X and neo-Y formation, X-added regions, and conversion of autosomes to sex chromosomes from which we propose a model of chromosome evolution across different nematode clades. The phylum Nematoda offers a new and innovative system for gaining a deeper understanding of sex chromosome evolution.

Many nematode worms, including Caenorhabditis elegans have XX/XO sex determination, while other species have XY. The authors use a new genome assembly of the filarial parasite Brugia malayi and published data to show that nematode sex chromosome evolution is highly plastic.

Details

Title
Sex chromosome evolution in parasitic nematodes of humans
Author
Foster, Jeremy M 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Grote, Alexandra 2 ; Mattick, John 3 ; Tracey, Alan 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Tsai Yu-Chih 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Chung, Matthew 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Cotton, James A 4 ; Clark, Tyson A 5 ; Geber, Adam 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Holroyd, Nancy 4 ; Korlach Jonas 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Li, Yichao 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Libro Silvia 1 ; Lustigman, Sara 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Michalski, Michelle L 8 ; Paulini, Michael 9 ; Rogers, Matthew B 10 ; Teigen, Laura 8 ; Twaddle, Alan 2 ; Welch, Lonnie 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Berriman, Matthew 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Dunning Hotopp Julie C 11   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ghedin Elodie 12   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  New England Biolabs, Division of Protein Expression & Modification, Ipswich, USA (GRID:grid.273406.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0376 1796) 
2  New York University, Department of Biology, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York, USA (GRID:grid.137628.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8753) 
3  University of Maryland School of Medicine, Institute for Genome Science, Baltimore, USA (GRID:grid.411024.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2175 4264) 
4  Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK (GRID:grid.10306.34) (ISNI:0000 0004 0606 5382) 
5  Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, USA (GRID:grid.423340.2) 
6  Ohio University, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Athens, USA (GRID:grid.20627.31) (ISNI:0000 0001 0668 7841) 
7  New York Blood Center, Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, New York, USA (GRID:grid.250415.7) (ISNI:0000 0004 0442 2075) 
8  University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Department of Biology and Microbiology, Oshkosh, USA (GRID:grid.267474.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 0674 4543) 
9  European Bioinformatics Institute, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Cambridge, UK (GRID:grid.225360.0) (ISNI:0000 0000 9709 7726) 
10  UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Department of Surgery, Pittsburgh, USA (GRID:grid.239553.b) (ISNI:0000 0000 9753 0008) 
11  University of Maryland School of Medicine, Institute for Genome Science, Baltimore, USA (GRID:grid.411024.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2175 4264); University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Baltimore, USA (GRID:grid.411024.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2175 4264); University of Maryland School of Medicine, Greenebaum Cancer Center, Baltimore, USA (GRID:grid.411024.2) (ISNI:0000 0001 2175 4264) 
12  New York University, Department of Biology, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York, USA (GRID:grid.137628.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8753); New York University, Department of Epidemiology, School of Global Public Health, New York, USA (GRID:grid.137628.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8753) 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15654-6
ProQuest document ID
2394156548
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.