Evolutionary rate of a gene affected by chromosomal position.

Genes evolve at different rates depending on the strength of selective pressure to maintain their function. Chromosomal position can also have an influence 1] 2]. The pseudoautosomal region (PAR) of mammalian sex chromosomes is a small region of sequence identity that is the site of an obligatory pairing and recombination event between the X and Y chromosomes during male meiosis 3] 4] 5] 6]. During female meiosis, X chromosomes can pair and recombine along their entire length. Recombination in the PAR is therefore approximately 10 times greater in male meiosis compared with female meiosis 4] 5] 6]. The gene Fxy (also known as MID1 7]) spans the pseudoautosomal boundary (PAB) in the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus domesticus, C57BL/6) such that the 5' three exons of the gene are located on the X chromosome but the seven exons encoding the carboxy-terminal two-thirds of the protein are located within the PAR and are therefore present on both the X and Y chromosomes 8]. In humans 7] 9], the rat, and the wild mouse species Mus spretus, the gene is entirely X-unique. Here, we report that the rate of sequence divergence of the 3' end of the Fxy gene is much higher (estimated at 170-fold higher for synonymous sites) when pseudoautosomal (present on both the X and Y chromosomes) than when X-unique. Thus, chromosomal position can directly affect the rate of evolution of a gene. This finding also provides support for the suggestion that regions of the genome with a high recombination frequency, such as the PAR, may have an intrinsically elevated rate of sequence divergence.