Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41489478›Full record

ArticleEvolution; international journal of organic evolution2026

Persistence of an unusual triple sex chromosome system through allopolyploidization in African clawed frogs (Xenopus, subgenus Silurana).

Tharindu Premachandra, Václav Gvoždík, Emmanuela U Anele, Marek Kučka, Yingguang Frank Chan, Marko E Horb, Zacharie Kusamba Chifundera, Gabriel Badjedjea, John Measey, Ben J Evans

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Tharindu PremachandraBiology Department, Life Sciences Building Room 328, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.ORCID 0009-0007-2444-3526
Václav GvoždíkInstitute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.ORCID 0000-0002-4398-4076
Emmanuela U AneleBiology Department, Life Sciences Building Room 328, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.ORCID 0009-0002-9130-4589
Marek KučkaMolecular Pathology & Department of Translational Genomics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0928-4914
Yingguang Frank ChanFaculty of Science and Engineering, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-6292-9681
Marko E HorbEugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering and National Xenopus Resource, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-5067-0518
Zacharie Kusamba ChifunderaLaboratory of Herpetology, Department of Biology, Natural Science Research Centre, Lwiro, Democratic Republic of the Congo.ORCID 0000-0001-7380-7372
Gabriel BadjedjeaDepartment of Aquatic Ecology, Biodiversity Monitoring Center, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo.ORCID 0000-0003-4284-4327
John MeaseyMécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution, UMR 7179, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle CNRS, Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0001-9939-7615
Ben J EvansBiology Department, Life Sciences Building Room 328, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-9512-8845

Funding

Resource CoreP40OD010997 · OD · MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY · PI Marko E Horb · 2012 to 2026
$13.1M
Xenopus Mutant ResourceR24OD030008 · OD · MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY · PI Marko E Horb · 2020 to 2026
$6.0M
Compute CanadaCzech Science Foundation 23-07331SMinistry of Culture of the Czech Republic 2024-2028/6.I.cMuseum of Comparative ZoologyNational Museum of the Czech Republic 00023272Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada RGPIN-2017-05770Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada RGPIN-2024-05290NIH HHS P40 OD010997NIH HHS P40OD010997NIH HHS R24 OD030008NIH HHS R24OD030008NRF 87759
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

African clawed frogs (Xenopus) have a high rate of genome duplication, which may catalyze evolution-including of sex chromosomes. To explore this, for each of four species in the subgenus Silurana, we analyzed sex-associated genetic variation, and in the diploid species X. tropicalis, we explored population structure. We found that the sex-linked regions in all four species are homologous, and we infer that X. calcaratus has an unusual sex determination system with three sex chromosomes, which was previously known only in X. tropicalis. Our results evidence two independent allotetraploidization in Silurana, admixture across ploidy levels, and demonstrate that the most recent allotetraploidization that generated the X. calcaratus lineage occurred after population subdivision arose in X. tropicalis. Thus, this unusual triple sex chromosome system has been maintained independently in two different species for a protracted period and through an allotetraploidization event. Simulations indicate that genetic drift should eliminate one of the sex chromosomes, suggesting that there may be unidentified benefits to maintaining this complex system.

Indexed as

Evolution, MolecularPolyploidySex ChromosomesXenopusAnimalsFemaleGenetic VariationMaleSex Determination Processesallopolyploidizationpopulation structuresex chromosome turnoversubgenome

Identifiers

PMID41489478
PMCPMC13017416

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Registered trials

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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.