Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sex chromosomes

Why Ys are not necessarily toxic

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Ecology & Evolution

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Sex differences in physiology and longevity are widely observed. A study that manipulates heterochromatin content in Drosophila Y chromosomes shows no association between the length of the Y chromosome and longevity, thus challenging the hypothesis that Y chromosome-derived heterochromatin causes Y chromosome-bearing animals to live shorter lives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: The Y chromosome is highly heterochromatic.

Sebastian Kaulitzki/Alamy Stock Photo

References

  1. Naqvi, S. et al. Science 365, eaaw7317 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Marais, G. A. B. et al. Biol. Sex Differ. 9, 33 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Xirocostas, Z. A., Everingham, S. E. & Moles, A. T. Biol. Lett. 16, 20190867 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Delanoue, R., Clot, C., Leray, C., Pihl, T. & Hudry, B. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02089-7 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Brown, E. J., Nguyen, A. H. & Bachtrog, D. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 4, 853–862 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Brown, E. J., Nguyen, A. H. & Bachtrog, D. Mol. Biol. Evol. 37, 2808–2824 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Nguyen, A. H., Wang, W., Chong, E., Chatla, K. & Bachtrog, D. Genome Res. 32, 1074–1088 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Wu, Q. et al. Aging Cell 19, e13120 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Pipoly, I. et al. Nature 527, 91–94 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Birkhead, T. R., Lee, K. E. & Young, P. Behaviour 106, 112–118 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Paliulis, L. V. et al. PLoS ONE 17, e0272978 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Yukiko M. Yamashita

Authors
  1. Yukiko M. Yamashita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yukiko M. Yamashita.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yamashita, Y.M. Why Ys are not necessarily toxic. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1177–1178 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02079-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02079-9

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation