Publication Details
The slowdown of Y chromosome expansion in dioecious Silene latifolia due to DNA loss and male-specific silencing of retrotransposons
Kubát Zdeněk
Kejnovský Eduard, doc. RNDr., CSc.
Jesionek Wojciech
Čížková Jana
Vyskot Boris, prof. RNDr., DrSc.
Hobza Roman
epigenetics, genome size, Silene latifolia, transposable elements, Y chromosome
The riseand fall of the Y chromosome was demonstrated in animals but plants oftenpossess the large evolutionarily young Y chromosome that is thought hasexpanded recently. Break-even points dividing expansion and shrinkage phase ofplant Y chromosome evolution are still to be determined. To assess the size dynamics of the Y chromosome, we studiedintraspecific genome size variation and genome composition of male and female individuals in adioecious plant Silene latifolia, awell-established model for sex-chromosomes evolution.
Ourgenome size data are the first to demonstrate that regardless of intraspecificgenome size variation, Y chromosome has retained its size in S. latifolia. Bioinformatic study ofgenome composition showed that constancy of Y chromosome size was caused by Y chromosome DNA loss and thefemale-specific proliferation of recently active dominant retrotransposons. Weshow that several families of retrotransposonshave contributed togenome size variation but not to Y chromosome size change.
Our results suggest that the large Y chromosome of S. latifolia has slowed down or stopped itsexpansion. Female-specific proliferation of retrotransposons, enlarging thegenome with exception of the Y chromosome, was probably caused by silencingof highly active retrotransposons in males and represents an adaptive mechanism to suppress degenerativeprocesses in the haploid stage. Sex specific silencing of transposons might bewidespread in plants but hidden in traditional hermaphroditic model plants.
@article{BUT146269,
author="Janka {Puterová} and Zdeněk {Kubát} and Eduard {Kejnovský} and Wojciech {Jesionek} and Jana {Čížková} and Boris {Vyskot} and Roman {Hobza}",
title="The slowdown of Y chromosome expansion in dioecious Silene latifolia due to DNA loss and male-specific silencing of retrotransposons",
journal="BMC GENOMICS",
year="2018",
volume="19",
number="153",
pages="1--11",
doi="10.1186/s12864-018-4547-7",
issn="1471-2164",
url="https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-018-4547-7"
}