Conserved synteny between the chicken Z sex chromosome and human chromosome 9 includes the male regulatory gene DMRT1: a comparative (re)view on avian sex determination

Sex-determination mechanisms in birds and mammals evolved independently for more than 300 million years. Unlike mammals, sex determination in birds operates through a ZZ/ZW sex chromosome system, in which the female is the heterogametic sex. However, the molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. Comparative gene mapping revealed that several genes on human chromosome 9 (HSA 9) have homologs on the chicken Z chromosome (GGA Z), indicating the common ancestry of large parts of GGA Z and HSA 9. Based on chromosome homology maps, we isolated a Z-linked chicken ortholog of DMRT1, which has been implicated in XY sex reversal in humans. Its location on the avian Z and within the sex-reversal region on HSA 9p suggests that DMRT1 represents an ancestral dosage-sensitive gene for vertebrate sex-determination. Z dosage may be crucial for male sexual differentiation/determination in birds.     

Sex determination: insights from the chicken

Not all vertebrates share the familiar system of XX:XY sex determination seen in mammals. In the chicken and other birds, sex is determined by a ZZ:ZW sex chromosome system. Gonadal development in the chicken has provided insights into the molecular genetics of vertebrate sex determination and how it has evolved. Such comparative studies show that vertebrate sex-determining pathways comprise both conserved and divergent elements. The chicken embryo resembles lower vertebrates in that estrogens play a central role in gonadal sex differentiation. However, several genes shown to be critical for mammalian sex determination are also expressed in the chicken, but their expression patterns differ, indicating functional plasticity. While the genetic trigger for sex determination in birds remains unknown, some promising candidate genes have recently emerged. The Z-linked gene, DMRT1, supports the Z-dosage model of avian sex determination. Two novel W-linked genes, ASW and FET1, represent candidate female determinants.     

Sex Determination: Two Copies for One Cock

The molecular mechanism of sex determination in birds has long remained mysterious. Genetically male chicken embryos, which have two Z sex chromosomes, develop female gonads when the Z chromosome-linked gene DMRT1 is knocked out. This suggests that sex is determined by Z chromosome dosage.     

Sex-specific expression of an evolutionarily conserved male regulatory gene, DMRT1, in birds

Based on its Z-sex-chromosomal location and its structural homology to male sexual regulatory factors in humans (DMRT1 and DMRT2), Drosophila (Dsx), and Caenorhabditis elegans (Mab-3), chicken DMRT1 is an excellent candidate for a testis-determining factor in birds. The data we present provide further strong support for this hypothesis. By whole mount in situ hybridization chicken DMRT1 is expressed at higher levels in the male than in the female genital ridges during early stages of embryogenesis. Its expression becomes testis-specific after onset of sexual differentiation. Northern blot and RT PCR analysis showed that in adult birds DMRT1 is expressed exclusively in the testis. We propose that two gene dosages are required for testis formation in ZZ males, whereas expression from a single Z chromosome in ZW females leads to female sexual differentiation.     

ASW: a gene with conserved avian W-linkage and female specific expression in chick embryonic gonad

Vertebrates exhibit a variety of sex determining mechanisms which fall broadly into two classes: environmental or genetic. In birds and mammals sex is determined by a genetic mechanism. In mammals males are the heterogametic sex (XY) with the Y chromosome acting as a dominant determiner of sex due to the action of the testis-determining factor, SRY. In birds females are the heterogametic sex (ZW); however, it is not known whether the W chromosome carries a dominant ovary-determining gene, or whether Z chromosome dosage determines sex. Using an experimental approach, which assumes only that the sex-determining event in birds is accompanied by sex-specific changes in gene expression, we have identified a novel gene, ASW (Avian Sex-specific W-linked). The putative protein for ASW is related to the HIT (histidine triad) family of proteins. ASW shows female-specific expression in genital ridges and maps to the chicken W chromosome. In addition, we show that, with the exception of ratites, ASW is linked to the W chromosome in each of 17 bird species from nine different families of the class Aves. Received: 18 October 1999 / Accepted: 10 January 2000     

Sex determination and sexual differentiation in the avian model

The sex of birds is determined by the inheritance of sex chromosomes (ZZ male and ZW female). Genes carried on one or both of these sex chromosomes control sexual differentiation during embryonic life, producing testes in males (ZZ) and ovaries in females (ZW). This minireview summarizes our current understanding of avian sex determination and gonadal development. Most recently, it has been shown that sex is cell autonomous in birds. Evidence from gynandromorphic chickens (male on one side, female on the other) points to the likelihood that sex is determined directly in each cell of the body, independently of, or in addition to, hormonal signalling. Hence, sex-determining genes may operate not only in the gonads, to produce testes or ovaries, but also throughout cells of the body. In the chicken, as in other birds, the gonads develop into ovaries or testes during embryonic life, a process that must be triggered by sex-determining genes. This process involves the Z-linked DMRT1 gene. If DMRT1 gene activity is experimentally reduced, the gonads of male embryos (ZZ) are feminized, with ovarian-type structure, downregulation of male markers and activation of female markers. DMRT1 is currently the best candidate gene thought to regulate gonadal sex differentiation. However, if sex is cell autonomous, DMRT1 cannot be the master regulator, as its expression is confined to the urogenital system. Female development in the avian model appears to be shared with mammals; both the FOXL2 and RSPO1/WNT4 pathways are implicated in ovarian differentiation.     

Triploidy in a sexually dimorphic passerine provides new evidence for the effect of the W chromosome on secondary sexual traits in birds

In birds, there are two main models for the determination of sex: the ‘Z Dosage’ model in which the number, or dose, of Z chromosomes determines sex, and the ‘Dominant W’ model which argues that a specific gene in the W chromosome may influence Z gene expression and determine sex. The best evidence for W determination of sex comes from birds with 2 copies of the Z chromosome paired with a single W (e.g. ZZW) which are nonetheless females. Here, we expand the species where such a mechanism may operate by reporting a case of a triploid Neotropical passerine bird with sexually dimorphic plumage, the São Paulo marsh antwren Formicivora paludicola. Evidence from 17 autosomal unlinked microsatellite loci, and CHD1 sex‐linked locus, indicate that this individual is a 3n ZZW triploid with intermediate plumage pattern. This example expands our knowledge of sex determination mechanisms in birds by demonstrating that both the W and the two Z chromosomes affect the expression of morphological secondary sexual traits in a non‐galliform bird.     

A new marker based on the avian spindlin gene that is able to sex most birds,including species problematic to sex with CHD markers

We have developed a new marker (Z43B) that can be successfully used to identify the sex of most birds (69%), including species difficult or impossible to sex with other markers. We utilized the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata EST microsatellite sequence (CK309496) which displays sequence homology to the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of the avian spindlin gene. This gene is known to be present on the Z and W chromosomes. To maximize cross‐species utility, the primer set was designed from a consensus sequence created from homologs of CK309496 that were isolated from multiple distantly related species. Both the forward and reverse primer sequences were 100% identical to 14 avian species, including the Z chromosome of eight species and the chicken Gallus gallus W chromosome, as well as the saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus. The Z43B primer set was assessed by genotyping individuals of known sex belonging to 61 non‐ratite species and a single ratite. The Z and W amplicons differed in size making it possible to distinguish between males (ZZ) and females (ZW) for the majority (69%) of non‐ratite species tested, comprising 10 orders of birds. We predict that this marker will be useful for obtaining sex‐typing data for ca 6,869 species of birds (69% of non‐ratites but not galliforms). A wide range of species could be sex‐typed including passerines, shorebirds, eagles, falcons, bee‐eaters, cranes, shags, parrots, penguins, ducks, and a ratite species, the brown kiwi, Apteryx australis. Those species sexed include species impossible or problematic to sex‐type with other markers (magpie, albatross, petrel, eagle, falcon, crane, and penguin species). Zoo Biol. 35:533–545, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. Zoo Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Parallel divergence and degradation of the avian W sex chromosome

Sex chromosomes are ubiquitous in birds but our understanding of how they originated and evolved has remained incomplete. Recent work by Tsuda et al. on tinamou and ratite birds suggests that, although all bird sex chromosomes evolved from the same pair of autosomes, the Z and W sex chromosomes have diverged from one another several times independently. This parallel evolution of the avian W presents a means for comparison in studies of sex chromosome evolution, which could help us understand more about the general forces that shape the development of all types of sex chromosome.     

A ZZ/ZW-type sex determination in Xenopus laevis

Genetic sex-determining systems in vertebrates include two basic types of heterogamety, which are represented by the XX/XY and ZZ/ZW types. Both types occur among amphibian species. Little is known, however, about the molecular mechanisms underlying amphibian sex determination. Recently, a W-linked gene, DM-W, was isolated as a paralog of DMRT1 in the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, which has a female heterogametic ZZ/ZW-type sex-determining system. The DNA-binding domain of DM-W shows high sequence identity with that of DMRT1, but DM-W does not contain a domain with homology to DMRT1's transactivation domain. Importantly, phenotypic analysis of transgenic individuals bearing a DM-W-expression or -knockdown vector strongly suggested that DM-W acts as a female sex-determining gene in this species. In this minireview, we briefly describe the sex-determining systems in amphibians, discuss recent findings from the discovery of the DM-W gene in terms of its molecular evolution and its function in sex determination and ovary formation, and introduce a new model for the ZZ/ZW-type sex determination elicited by DM-W and DMRT1 in X. laevis. Finally, we discuss sex-determining systems and germ-cell development during vertebrate evolution, especially in view of a conserved role of DMRT1 in gonadal masculinization.     

Different origins of bird and reptile sex chromosomes inferred from comparative mapping of chicken Z-linked genes

Recent progress of chicken genome projects has revealed that bird ZW and mammalian XY sex chromosomes were derived from different autosomal pairs of the common ancestor; however, the evolutionary relationship between bird and reptilian sex chromosomes is still unclear. The Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis) exhibits genetic sex determination, but no distinguishable (heteromorphic) sex chromosomes have been identified. In order to investigate this further, we performed molecular cytogenetic analyses of this species, and thereby identified ZZ/ZW-type micro-sex chromosomes. In addition, we cloned reptile homologues of chicken Z-linked genes from three reptilian species, the Chinese soft-shelled turtle and the Japanese four-striped rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata), which have heteromorphic sex chromosomes, and the Siam crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis), which exhibits temperature-dependent sex determination and lacks sex chromosomes. We then mapped them to chromosomes of each species using FISH. The linkage of the genes has been highly conserved in all species: the chicken Z chromosome corresponded to the turtle chromosome 6q, snake chromosome 2p and crocodile chromosome 3. The order of the genes was identical among the three species. The absence of homology between the bird Z chromosome and the snake and turtle Z sex chromosomes suggests that the origin of the sex chromosomes and the causative genes of sex determination are different between birds and reptiles.     

Inventing a sex-specific gene: a conserved role of DMRT1 in teleost fishes plus a recent duplication in the medaka Oryzias latipes resulted in DMY

DMY, the first sex-determining gene to be described in a nonmammal vertebrate was recently characterized in the medaka fish (Oryzias latipes). It is homologous to DMRT1, a conserved gene of the sex determination cascade in vertebrates. We have checked the near complete genomes of two other percomorph fishes, Tetraodon nigroviridis and Takifugu rubripes, for supplementary homologs of DMRT1 and DMY. We also compared the new gene, DMY, to its homolog DMRT1 from all available vertebrates. Finally, we found evidence for sex-specific expression and alternative splicing of the homolog from T. nigroviridis. Our results show that DMY is a recent duplicate of DMRT1 in the medaka. Its role in sex determination was not acquired through an acceleration of evolutionary rates, but by translocation to the Y chromosome and possibly changes at key positions.     

The multiple sex chromosomes of platypus and echidna are not completely identical and several share homology with the avian Z

Background

Sex-determining systems have evolved independently in vertebrates. Placental mammals and marsupials have an XY system, birds have a ZW system. Reptiles and amphibians have different systems, including temperature-dependent sex determination, and XY and ZW systems that differ in origin from birds and placental mammals. Monotremes diverged early in mammalian evolution, just after the mammalian clade diverged from the sauropsid clade. Our previous studies showed that male platypus has five X and five Y chromosomes, no SRY, and DMRT1 on an X chromosome. In order to investigate monotreme sex chromosome evolution, we performed a comparative study of platypus and echidna by chromosome painting and comparative gene mapping.

Results

Chromosome painting reveals a meiotic chain of nine sex chromosomes in the male echidna and establishes their order in the chain. Two of those differ from those in the platypus, three of the platypus sex chromosomes differ from those of the echidna and the order of several chromosomes is rearranged. Comparative gene mapping shows that, in addition to bird autosome regions, regions of bird Z chromosomes are homologous to regions in four platypus X chromosomes, that is, X₁, X₂, X₃, X₅, and in chromosome Y₁.

Conclusion

Monotreme sex chromosomes are easiest to explain on the hypothesis that autosomes were added sequentially to the translocation chain, with the final additions after platypus and echidna divergence. Genome sequencing and contig anchoring show no homology yet between platypus and therian Xs; thus, monotremes have a unique XY sex chromosome system that shares some homology with the avian Z.     

鸟类性别决定机制及性别鉴定的研究进展

鸟类的性别决定是一个多基因参与的级联调控过程。这一过程受Z染色体连锁的DMRT1基因, W染色体连锁的PKC1W和其它多种因子共同调控。本文综述了性别决定基因及其功能、性别鉴定方法等方面的研究进展。Abstract： Avian sex determination is a multiple gene regulation cascade. Genes such as the Z chromosome-linked DMRT1 gene, W chromosome-linked PKCIW gene and other factors have been demonstrated to be involved in this process. In this paper, we review the recent progress in this field. The investigation of functions of sex determinate genes and methods of sexing birds are discussed here.     

脊椎动物性别决定和分化的分子机制研究进展

哺乳类性别决定是多种转录因子和生长因子相继表达和相互调控的结果。SRY的表达启动雄性通路并诱导下游雄性特异基因SOX9、AMH等的表达。FOXL2在雌性未分化性腺表达,WNT-4和DAX1也在雌性性别决定或分化时期表达,表明雌性通路也是受特定基因调控的,而并非“默认通路”。鸟类的性别也是由遗传基因决定的,EFT1(雌性)和DMRT1(雄性)可能是性别决定候选基因。爬行类为温度性别决定的典型,温度可能通过调节雌激素水平和控制性别特异遗传基因表达决定性别。大部分两栖类性别受环境因素影响,但发现DMRT1和DAX1可能与其精巢发育有关。鱼类性别决定和分化方式差异很大,多种因素(遗传基因、环境因素、类固醇激素等)参与了这一过程。从青Q鳉Y染色体定位克隆的DMY,被认为是第一个非哺乳类脊椎动物雄性性别决定基因。所有这些表明脊椎动物性别决定和分化机制是多样化的。     

The expression pattern of a mouse doublesex-related gene is consistent with a role in gonadal differentiation

The signal for somatic sex determination in mammals, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster is chromosomal, but the overall mechanisms do not appear to be conserved between the phyla. However it has been found quite recently that the C. elegans sex-determining gene Mab-3 contains a domain highly homologous to the Drosophila sex-determining gene doublesex (dsx) and shares a similar role. These data suggest that at least some aspects of the regulation of sex determination might be conserved. In humans, a doublesex-related gene (DMRT1) was identified at less than 30 kb from the critical region for sex reversal on chromosome 9p24 (TD9). In order to get insights into the role of DMRT1 in sex determination/differentiation, we have isolated DMRT1 mouse homologue (Dmrt1) and analysed its expression pattern. The gene is expressed in the genital ridges of both sexes during the sex-determining switch and it shows male/female dimorphism at late stages of sex differentiation.