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Extreme variation in recombination rate and genetic diversity along the Sylvioidea neo-sex chromosome

Ponnikas, Suvi LU ; Sigeman, Hanna LU ; Lundberg, Max LU and Hansson, Bengt LU orcid (2022) In Molecular Ecology 31(13). p.3566-3583
Abstract

Recombination strongly impacts sequence evolution by affecting the extent of linkage and the efficiency of selection. Here, we study recombination over the Z chromosome in great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) using pedigree-based linkage mapping. This species has extended Z and W chromosomes (“neo-sex chromosomes”) formed by a fusion between a part of chromosome 4A and the ancestral sex chromosomes, which provides a unique opportunity to assess recombination and sequence evolution in sex-linked regions of different ages. We assembled an 87.54 Mbp and 90.19 cM large Z with a small pseudoautosomal region (0.89 Mbp) at one end and the fused Chr4A-part at the other end of the chromosome. A prominent feature in our data was an... (More)

Recombination strongly impacts sequence evolution by affecting the extent of linkage and the efficiency of selection. Here, we study recombination over the Z chromosome in great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) using pedigree-based linkage mapping. This species has extended Z and W chromosomes (“neo-sex chromosomes”) formed by a fusion between a part of chromosome 4A and the ancestral sex chromosomes, which provides a unique opportunity to assess recombination and sequence evolution in sex-linked regions of different ages. We assembled an 87.54 Mbp and 90.19 cM large Z with a small pseudoautosomal region (0.89 Mbp) at one end and the fused Chr4A-part at the other end of the chromosome. A prominent feature in our data was an extreme variation in male recombination rate along Z with high values at both chromosome ends, but an apparent lack of recombination over a substantial central section, covering 78% of the chromosome. The nonrecombining region showed a drastic loss of genetic diversity and accumulation of repeats compared to the recombining parts. Thus, our data emphasize a key role of recombination in affecting local levels of polymorphism. Nonetheless, the evolutionary rate of genes (dN/dS) did not differ between high and low recombining regions, suggesting that the efficiency of selection on protein-coding sequences can be maintained also at very low levels of recombination. Finally, the Chr4A-derived part showed a similar recombination rate as the part of the ancestral Z that did recombine, but its sequence characteristics reflected both its previous autosomal, and current Z-linked, recombination patterns.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
evolutionary rates, genetic variation, great reed warbler, linkage map, neo-sex chromosome, recombination
in
Molecular Ecology
volume
31
issue
13
pages
18 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85131313023
  • pmid:35578784
ISSN
0962-1083
DOI
10.1111/mec.16532
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6c67066c-22a9-4987-910d-21a0f79e6192
date added to LUP
2022-09-06 10:46:49
date last changed
2024-06-27 20:18:01
@article{6c67066c-22a9-4987-910d-21a0f79e6192,
  abstract     = {{<p>Recombination strongly impacts sequence evolution by affecting the extent of linkage and the efficiency of selection. Here, we study recombination over the Z chromosome in great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) using pedigree-based linkage mapping. This species has extended Z and W chromosomes (“neo-sex chromosomes”) formed by a fusion between a part of chromosome 4A and the ancestral sex chromosomes, which provides a unique opportunity to assess recombination and sequence evolution in sex-linked regions of different ages. We assembled an 87.54 Mbp and 90.19 cM large Z with a small pseudoautosomal region (0.89 Mbp) at one end and the fused Chr4A-part at the other end of the chromosome. A prominent feature in our data was an extreme variation in male recombination rate along Z with high values at both chromosome ends, but an apparent lack of recombination over a substantial central section, covering 78% of the chromosome. The nonrecombining region showed a drastic loss of genetic diversity and accumulation of repeats compared to the recombining parts. Thus, our data emphasize a key role of recombination in affecting local levels of polymorphism. Nonetheless, the evolutionary rate of genes (dN/dS) did not differ between high and low recombining regions, suggesting that the efficiency of selection on protein-coding sequences can be maintained also at very low levels of recombination. Finally, the Chr4A-derived part showed a similar recombination rate as the part of the ancestral Z that did recombine, but its sequence characteristics reflected both its previous autosomal, and current Z-linked, recombination patterns.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ponnikas, Suvi and Sigeman, Hanna and Lundberg, Max and Hansson, Bengt}},
  issn         = {{0962-1083}},
  keywords     = {{evolutionary rates; genetic variation; great reed warbler; linkage map; neo-sex chromosome; recombination}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{13}},
  pages        = {{3566--3583}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Molecular Ecology}},
  title        = {{Extreme variation in recombination rate and genetic diversity along the Sylvioidea neo-sex chromosome}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.16532}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/mec.16532}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}