Mitochondrial mutations may drive Y chromosome evolution |
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Authors: | Gemmell Neil J Sin Frank Y T |
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Affiliation: | Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. n.gemmell@zool.canterbury.ac.nz |
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Abstract: | The human Y chromosome contains very low levels of nucleotide variation. It has been variously hypothesized that this invariance reflects historic reductions in the human male population, a very recent common ancestry, a slow rate of molecular evolution, an inability to evolve adaptively, or frequent selective sweeps acting on genes borne on the Y chromosome. We propose an alternative theory in which human Y chromosome evolution is driven by mutations in the maternally inherited mitochondrial genome, which impair male fertility and ultimately lead to a reduction in the effective population size (N(e)) and consequently the variability of the Y chromosome. |
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