@article{NandaSchoriesSimeonovetal.2022, author = {Nanda, Indrajit and Schories, Susanne and Simeonov, Ivan and Adolfi, Mateus Contar and Du, Kang and Steinlein, Claus and Alsheimer, Manfred and Haaf, Thomas and Schartl, Manfred}, title = {Evolution of the degenerated Y-chromosome of the swamp guppy, Micropoecilia picta}, series = {Cells}, volume = {11}, journal = {Cells}, number = {7}, issn = {2073-4409}, doi = {10.3390/cells11071118}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267242}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The conspicuous colour sexual dimorphism of guppies has made them paradigmatic study objects for sex-linked traits and sex chromosome evolution. Both the X- and Y-chromosomes of the common guppy (Poecilia reticulata) are genetically active and homomorphic, with a large homologous part and a small sex specific region. This feature is considered to emulate the initial stage of sex chromosome evolution. A similar situation has been documented in the related Endler's and Oropuche guppies (P. wingei, P. obscura) indicating a common origin of the Y in this group. A recent molecular study in the swamp guppy (Micropoecilia. picta) reported a low SNP density on the Y, indicating Y-chromosome deterioration. We performed a series of cytological studies on M. picta to show that the Y-chromosome is quite small compared to the X and has accumulated a high content of heterochromatin. Furthermore, the Y-chromosome stands out in displaying CpG clusters around the centromeric region. These cytological findings evidently illustrate that the Y-chromosome in M. picta is indeed highly degenerated. Immunostaining for SYCP3 and MLH1 in pachytene meiocytes revealed that a substantial part of the Y remains associated with the X. A specific MLH1 hotspot site was persistently marked at the distal end of the associated XY structure. These results unveil a landmark of a recombining pseudoautosomal region on the otherwise strongly degenerated Y chromosome of M. picta. Hormone treatments of females revealed that, unexpectedly, no sexually antagonistic color gene is Y-linked in M. picta. All these differences to the Poecilia group of guppies indicate that the trajectories associated with the evolution of sex chromosomes are not in parallel.}, language = {en} }