Dynamic sex chromosome expression in Drosophila male germ cells

Given their copy number differences and unique modes of inheritance, the evolved gene content and expression of sex chromosomes is unusual. In many organisms the X and Y chromosomes are inactivated in spermatocytes, possibly as a defense mechanism against insertions into unpaired chromatin. In addit...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 892
Main Authors:	Mahadevaraju, Sharvani, Fear, Justin M., Akeju, Miriam, Galletta, Brian J., Pinheiro, Mara M. L. S., Avelino, Camila C., Cabral-de-Mello, Diogo C., Conlon, Katie, Dell’Orso, Stafania, Demere, Zelalem, Mansuria, Kush, Mendonça, Carolina A., Palacios-Gimenez, Octavio M., Ross, Eli, Savery, Max, Yu, Kevin, Smith, Harold E., Sartorelli, Vittorio, Yang, Haiwang, Rusan, Nasser M., Vibranovski, Maria D., Matunis, Erika, Oliver, Brian
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 09-02-2021 Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio
Subjects:	38 38/39 38/91 45 49 631/136/2434/1822 631/1647/334/1582/715 631/1647/514/1949 631/181/2806 631/208/135 64 64/24 Animals Chromatin Chromosomes Copy number Deactivation DNA-directed RNA polymerase Drosophila Drosophila - genetics Drosophila - growth & development Fruit flies Gametocytes Gene expression Gene Expression Regulation Genes Genes, X-Linked - genetics Genes, Y-Linked - genetics Germ cells Heredity Humanities and Social Sciences Insects Larva - genetics Larva - growth & development Larvae Male multidisciplinary Organ Specificity Phosphorylation Ribonucleic acid RNA RNA Polymerase II - metabolism Science Science (multidisciplinary) Serine Sex Sex chromosomes Sex Chromosomes - genetics Sex Chromosomes - metabolism Spermatocytes Spermatocytes - metabolism Spermatogenesis - genetics Testis - cytology Testis - metabolism Transcription Transcription, Genetic Y chromosomes
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Given their copy number differences and unique modes of inheritance, the evolved gene content and expression of sex chromosomes is unusual. In many organisms the X and Y chromosomes are inactivated in spermatocytes, possibly as a defense mechanism against insertions into unpaired chromatin. In addition to current sex chromosomes, Drosophila has a small gene-poor X-chromosome relic (4 th ) that re-acquired autosomal status. Here we use single cell RNA-Seq on fly larvae to demonstrate that the single X and pair of 4 th chromosomes are specifically inactivated in primary spermatocytes, based on measuring all genes or a set of broadly expressed genes in testis we identified. In contrast, genes on the single Y chromosome become maximally active in primary spermatocytes. Reduced X transcript levels are due to failed activation of RNA-Polymerase-II by phosphorylation of Serine 2 and 5. Sex chromosome gene content and expression is unusual. Here the authors use single cell RNA-Seq on Drosophila larvae to demonstrate that the single X and pair of 4th chromosomes are specifically inactivated in primary spermatocytes, while genes on the single Y chromosome become maximally active in primary spermatocytes.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2041-1723 2041-1723
DOI:	10.1038/s41467-021-20897-y