Abstract
The Ryukyu spiny rat, Tokudaia osimensis, has an XO/XO sex chromosome constitution, lacking a Y chromosome and the mammalian sex-determining gene SRY. To investigate the Y-loss event, we traced three proto-Y-linked genes, RBMY1A1, EIF2S3Y, and KDM5D, in the genome. The original Y-linked RBMY1A1 was lost as well as SRY, and the remaining RBMY1A1 was a processed pseudogene on autosome. In contrast, EIF2S3Y and KDM5D were conserved in genomes of both sexes as a result of their translocation from the Y chromosome to the X chromosome and/or autosomes. Furthermore, these genes were expressed in gonads and brains of both sexes. Our study indicated a loss of Y-linked genes with important male functions to be necessary for the Y chromosome to disappear. These functions might have been retained through the acquisition of new genes, and therefore, the Y-loss has had no harmful effect on the maintenance of this species.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank K. Matsubara and C. Nishida-Umehara for their advice on cell culture and chromosome banding; T. Hashimoto, K. Sato, and N. Ishii for their efforts in capturing the animals; and M. Komoto for an additional experiment. This work is supported by Grants-in-aid for Scientific Research (No. 16086201) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, and the Global Environment Research Fund F-3 (for FY) from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and a grant from the Inamori Foundation, Japan.
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Communicated by F. Ishikawa
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Table S1
Identities of nucleotide sequence between the Ryukyu spiny rat and mouse (XLS 9 kb)
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Kuroiwa, A., Ishiguchi, Y., Yamada, F. et al. The process of a Y-loss event in an XO/XO mammal, the Ryukyu spiny rat. Chromosoma 119, 519–526 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-010-0275-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-010-0275-8