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Tspy is nonfunctional in the Mongolian gerbil but functional in the Syrian hamster
- Source :
- Genomics. 88:65-73
- Publication Year :
- 2006
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2006.
-
Abstract
- The TSPY gene is conserved in placental mammals and encodes the testis-specific protein, Y encoded. Within the testis, TSPY expression is restricted to germ cells, and it is assumed that TSPY plays a role in the proliferation of germ cells. Since it was first discovered in humans, TSPY orthologous gene families have been subsequently characterized in many mammalian lineages. In contrast to the situation in cattle and primates, in which TSPY is organized in a moderately repetitive cluster, including functional members and pseudogenes, a peculiar situation is observed in rodents, in which Tspy has been become low or single copy and degenerated to a pseudogene in some species of the subgenus Mus. We have extended this approach and investigated Tspy gene evolution in the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) and the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). Whereas the Syrian hamster Tspy is functionally conserved, organized in multiple copies, and expressed only in testis, the closely related Mongolian gerbil possesses a single-copy pseudogene that is unable to generate a functional transcript. Thus, the Tspy locus has degenerated at least twice at different points of rodent evolution, strongly supporting the hypothesis that the decay of Y-chromosomal genes is an intrinsic evolutionary process. TSPY is the first example of a Y-chromosomal tandem repetitive gene whose decay could be studied in two independent mammalian lineages.
- Subjects :
- Male
Pseudogene
Gene Expression
Hamster
Cell Cycle Proteins
Locus (genetics)
Biology
Gerbil
Y chromosome
Rodents
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Evolution, Molecular
Genes, Y-Linked
Cricetinae
parasitic diseases
Genetics
Animals
Gene
Mesocricetus
TSPY
Gene silencing
biology.organism_classification
Introns
Tissue Array Analysis
Female
Gerbillinae
Pseudogenes
Orthologous Gene
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 08887543
- Volume :
- 88
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Genomics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4af86b57b5156791dc878f7a7d5028fe