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Sex-dimorphic gene expression and ineffective dosage compensation of Z-linked genes in gastrulating chicken embryos

Sex-dimorphic gene expression and ineffective dosage compensation of Z-linked genes in gastrulating chicken embryos

Authors :
Olivier Tassy
Gaye Hattem
Olivier Pourquié
Shaobing O. Zhang
Sachin Mathur
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
School of Computing and Engineering
University of Missouri [Kansas City] (UMKC)
University of Missouri System-University of Missouri System
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC)
Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology
University of Kansas Medical Center [Kansas City, KS, USA]
This research was funded in part from NIH grant R02HD043158 to O.P., the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
BMC, Ed.
University of Kansas Medical Center [Lawrence]
Source :
BMC Genomics, BMC Genomics, 2010, 11 (1), pp.13. ⟨10.1186/1471-2164-11-13⟩, BMC Genomics, BioMed Central, 2010, 11 (1), pp.13. ⟨10.1186/1471-2164-11-13⟩, BMC Genomics, Vol 11, Iss 1, p 13 (2010)
Publisher :
Springer Nature

Abstract

Background Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of sex determination and dosage compensation mechanisms in model organisms such as C. elegans, Drosophila and M. musculus. Strikingly, the mechanism involved in sex determination and dosage compensation are very different among these three model organisms. Birds present yet another situation where the heterogametic sex is the female. Sex determination is still poorly understood in birds and few key determinants have so far been identified. In contrast to most other species, dosage compensation of bird sex chromosomal genes appears rather ineffective. Results By comparing microarrays from microdissected primitive streak from single chicken embryos, we identified a large number of genes differentially expressed between male and female embryos at a very early stage (Hamburger and Hamilton stage 4), long before any sexual differentiation occurs. Most of these genes are located on the Z chromosome, which indicates that dosage compensation is ineffective in early chicken embryos. Gene ontology analyses, using an enhanced annotation tool for Affymetrix probesets of the chicken genome developed in our laboratory (called Manteia), show that among these male-biased genes found on the Z chromosome, more than 20 genes play a role in sex differentiation. Conclusions These results corroborate previous studies demonstrating the rather inefficient dosage compensation for Z chromosome in birds and show that this sexual dimorphism in gene regulation is observed long before the onset of sexual differentiation. These data also suggest a potential role of non-compensated Z-linked genes in somatic sex differentiation in birds.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14712164
Volume :
11
Issue :
1
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
BMC Genomics
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....5c6b2af4313efbf745ac95e25c62b69d
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-11-13