bioRxivEvolutionary BiologyPreprint
Re-inventing sex: A W chromosome and a path out of parthenogenesis for Bunonema nematodes
Janna L. FierstiD, Lara Arbex HerdeniD, Victoria K. EggersiD, Christina A BurnsiD, Jasbelle SosaiD, Pushpalata KayasthaiD, Michelle A. McCauleyiD, Karolina WillicottiD
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Abstract
Sex chromosomes are deeply conserved in some organisms but remarkably labile in others. Here we describe the evolution of a novel sex chromosome in the nematode Bunonema JU3390, a species with an autosome-derived genomic segment currently functioning as a female-limited W chromosome. We propose this neo sex chromosome system evolved to escape lethal structural mutations accumulated during a period of parthenogenesis, demonstrating the role of evolutionary contingency in this rapid re-invention of sex.
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