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Degeneration of the Y chromosome in evolutionary aging models

  • Statistical Physics and Biological Information
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Abstract.

The Y chromosomes are genetically degenerated and do not recombine with their matching partners X. Recombination of XX pairs is pointed out as the key factor for the Y chromosome degeneration. However, there is an additional evolutionary force driving sex-chromosomes evolution. Here we show this mechanism by means of two different evolutionary models, in which sex chromosomes with non-recombining XX and XY pairs of chromosomes is considered. Our results show three curious effects. First, we observed that even when both XX and XY pairs of chromosomes do not recombine, the Y chromosomes still degenerate. Second, the accumulation of mutations on Y chromosomes followed a completely different pattern then those accumulated on X chromosomes. And third, the models may differ with respect to sexual proportion. These findings suggest that a more primeval mechanism rules the evolution of Y chromosomes due exclusively to the sex-chromosomes asymmetry itself, i.e., the fact that Y chromosomes never experience female bodies. Over aeons, natural selection favored X chromosomes spontaneously, even if at the very beginning of evolution, both XX and XY pairs of chromosomes did not recombine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista Rua Pamplona 145, 01405-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    M. P. Lobo

  2. Departamento de Física e Informática, Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P.369, 13560-970, São Carlos-SP, Brazil

    R. N. Onody

Authors
  1. M. P. Lobo
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  2. R. N. Onody
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Correspondence to M. P. Lobo.

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Lobo, M., Onody, R. Degeneration of the Y chromosome in evolutionary aging models. Eur. Phys. J. B 45, 533–537 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2005-00218-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2005-00218-0

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