Sex Chromosome Evolution: Moths and Butterflies Break the Rules - Beatriz Viçoso (IST, Austria)
4:00pm - 5:00pm /
Tuesday 13th February 2018
/ Venue: Lecture Theatre 1 Life Sciences Building
- Kelly Welburn
- Suitable for: Staff and students with an interest in Behaviour, Evolution, Ecology and Microbiology
Add this event to my calendar
Click on "Create a calendar file" and your browser will download a .ics file for this event.
Microsoft Outlook: Download the file, double-click it to open it in Outlook, then click on "Save & Close" to save it to your calendar. If that doesn't work go into Outlook, click on the File tab, then on Open & Export, then Open Calendar. Select your .ics file then click on "Save & Close".
Google Calendar: download the file, then go into your calendar. On the left where it says "Other calendars" click on the arrow icon and then click on Import calendar. Click on Browse and select the .ics file, then click on Import.
Apple Calendar: The file may open automatically with an option to save it to your calendar. If not, download the file, then you can either drag it to Calendar or import the file by going to File >Import > Import and choosing the .ics file.
Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) have one of the best-studied ZW sex chromosome systems, but two important aspects of their evolution have remained unresolved:
Whether or not Lepidoptera as a whole have a global mechanism to regulate expression of the Z to compensate for the single copy of Z-linked genes in ZW females (i.e. a global mechanism of dosage compensation)
Whether the W is derived from an autosome (the canonical model for the origin of sex chromosomes), or from a non-canonical mechanism, such as the recruitment of a B-chromosome.
We have used comparative genomics and transcriptomics to obtain a better understanding of sex chromosome evolution in this group. We found that unlike other ZW clades (e.g. birds and snakes), all Lepidoptera studied so far have a chromosome-wide mechanism of dosage compensation. Further, while the Z appears to be ancient and well conserved, the W likely arose later through a non-canonical mechanism. These results emphasize the need to look at patterns of evolution in a broad range of organisms, and the potential of Lepidoptera as a model for ZW chromosome evolution.
Whether or not Lepidoptera as a whole have a global mechanism to regulate expression of the Z to compensate for the single copy of Z-linked genes in ZW females (i.e. a global mechanism of dosage compensation)
Whether the W is derived from an autosome (the canonical model for the origin of sex chromosomes), or from a non-canonical mechanism, such as the recruitment of a B-chromosome.
We have used comparative genomics and transcriptomics to obtain a better understanding of sex chromosome evolution in this group. We found that unlike other ZW clades (e.g. birds and snakes), all Lepidoptera studied so far have a chromosome-wide mechanism of dosage compensation. Further, while the Z appears to be ancient and well conserved, the W likely arose later through a non-canonical mechanism. These results emphasize the need to look at patterns of evolution in a broad range of organisms, and the potential of Lepidoptera as a model for ZW chromosome evolution.