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Comparison of the Z and W sex chromosomal architectures in elegant crested tinamou (Eudromia elegans) and ostrich (Struthio camelus) and the process of sex chromosome differentiation in palaeognathous birds

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Abstract

To clarify the process of avian sex chromosome differentiation in palaeognathous birds, we performed molecular and cytogenetic characterization of W chromosome-specific repetitive DNA sequences for elegant crested tinamou (Eudromia elegans, Tinamiformes) and constructed comparative cytogenetic maps of the Z and W chromosomes with nine chicken Z-linked gene homologues for E. elegans and ostrich (Struthio camelus, Struthioniformes). A novel family of W-specific repetitive sequences isolated from E. elegans was found to be composed of guanine- and cytosine-rich 293-bp elements that were tandemly arrayed in the genome as satellite DNA. No nucleotide sequence homologies were found for the Struthioniformes and neognathous birds. The comparative cytogenetic maps of the Z and W chromosomes of E. elegans and S. camelus revealed that there are partial deletions in the proximal regions of the W chromosomes in the two species, and the W chromosome is more differentiated in E. elegans than in S. camelus. These results suggest that a deletion firstly occurred in the proximal region close to the centromere of the acrocentric proto-W chromosome and advanced toward the distal region. In E. elegans, the W-specific repeated sequence elements were amplified site-specifically after deletion of a large part of the W chromosome occurred.

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Acknowledgements

We express our appreciation to Yokohama Zoological Gardens, Yokohama, for providing skin and blood samples of elegant crested tinamou, and Kimiyuki Tsuchiya for skin samples of ostrich. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (nos. 15370001 and 16086201) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cytogenetics, Division of Bioscience, Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, North 10 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Yayoi Tsuda, Chizuko Nishida-Umehara & Yoichi Matsuda

  2. Laboratory of Animal Cytogenetics, Division of Genome Dynamics, Creative Research Initiative “Sousei”, Hokkaido University, North 10 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Chizuko Nishida-Umehara, Junko Ishijima, Kazuhiko Yamada & Yoichi Matsuda

  3. Chromosome Science Labo Inc., 2-5-2-2, Nangoudori 2 Minami, Shiroishi-ku, Sapporo, 003-0022, Japan

    Kazuhiko Yamada

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  1. Yayoi Tsuda
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  2. Chizuko Nishida-Umehara
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  3. Junko Ishijima
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  4. Kazuhiko Yamada
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  5. Yoichi Matsuda
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Correspondence to Yoichi Matsuda.

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Communicated by Y. Hiraoka

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Tsuda, Y., Nishida-Umehara, C., Ishijima, J. et al. Comparison of the Z and W sex chromosomal architectures in elegant crested tinamou (Eudromia elegans) and ostrich (Struthio camelus) and the process of sex chromosome differentiation in palaeognathous birds. Chromosoma 116, 159–173 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-006-0088-y

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