ArticleNature2013
Reversal of an ancient sex chromosome to an autosome in Drosophila.
Article in Nature, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers.
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Who cites it
125 citing papers in PubMed, 244 citations in OpenAlex.
- A population genomic resource for Drosophila pseudoobscura.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Comparative genomic analysis and epigenetic profiling of the Drosophila melanogaster B chromosome.Genetics · 2026Article
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- Conservation and divergence of sex-biased gene expression across 50 million years of Drosophila evolution.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Detection of sex chromosomes in Tephritid pests using R-CQ and KAMY, two computational methods to support generic pest management applications.Insect science · 2026Article
- Population genomics ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- EdgeHOG: a method for fine-grained ancestral gene order inference at large scale.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Meiotic Sex Chromosome Inactivation: Conservation across the Drosophila genus.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Phylogenomics resolves key relationships inEvolution letters · 2025Article
- Neo-Sex Chromosome Evolution in Treehoppers Despite Long-Term X Chromosome Conservation.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
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- Chromosome-scale genome of the polyphagous pest Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) provides insights on sex chromosome evolution in Anastrepha.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Article
- The grasshopper genome reveals long-term gene content conservation of the X Chromosome and temporal variation in X Chromosome evolution.Genome research · 2024Article
- Evolution of sex-biased genes inEcology and evolution · 2024Article
- Single-cell RNA-seq of Drosophila miranda testis reveals the evolution and trajectory of germline sex chromosome regulation.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- Multiple Transitions between Y Chromosome and Autosome in Tago's Brown Frog Species Complex.Genes · 2024Article
- De Novo Genome Assembly at Chromosome-Scale ofInsects · 2024Article
- The Scorpionfly (Panorpa cognata) Genome Highlights Conserved and Derived Features of the Peculiar Dipteran X Chromosome.Molecular biology and evolution · 2023Article
- Evolution of sex-determination in dioecious plants: From active Y to X/A balance?BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2023Article
- Long-read genome assemblies for the study of chromosome expansion: Drosophila kikkawai, Drosophila takahashii, Drosophila bipectinata, and Drosophila ananassae.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Article
65 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Although transitions of sex-determination mechanisms are frequent in species with homomorphic sex chromosomes, heteromorphic sex chromosomes are thought to represent a terminal evolutionary stage owing to chromosome-specific adaptations such as dosage compensation or an accumulation of sex-specific mutations. Here we show that an autosome of Drosophila, the dot chromosome, was ancestrally a differentiated X chromosome. We analyse the whole genome of true fruitflies (Tephritidae), flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) and soldier flies (Stratiomyidae) to show that genes located on the dot chromosome of Drosophila are X-linked in outgroup species, whereas Drosophila X-linked genes are autosomal. We date this chromosomal transition to early drosophilid evolution by sequencing the genome of other Drosophilidae. Our results reveal several puzzling aspects of Drosophila dot chromosome biology to be possible remnants of its former life as a sex chromosome, such as its minor feminizing role in sex determination or its targeting by a chromosome-specific regulatory mechanism. We also show that patterns of biased gene expression of the dot chromosome during early embryogenesis, oogenesis and spermatogenesis resemble that of the current X chromosome. Thus, although sex chromosomes are not necessarily evolutionary end points and can revert back to an autosomal inheritance, the highly specialized genome architecture of this former X chromosome suggests that severe fitness costs must be overcome for such a turnover to occur.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.