A primitive Y chromosome in papaya marks incipient sex chromosome evolution

Zhiyong Liu, Paul H. Moore, Hao Ma, Christine M. Ackerman, Makandar Ragiba, Qingyi Yu, Heather M. Pearl, Minna S. Kim, Joseph W. Charlton, John I. Stiles, Francis T. Zee, Andrew H. Paterson and Ray Ming ()
Additional contact information
Zhiyong Liu: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Paul H. Moore: Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center
Hao Ma: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Christine M. Ackerman: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Makandar Ragiba: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Qingyi Yu: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Heather M. Pearl: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Minna S. Kim: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
Joseph W. Charlton: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
John I. Stiles: Integrated Coffee Technologies Incorporated
Francis T. Zee: Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center
Andrew H. Paterson: University of Georgia
Ray Ming: Hawaii Agriculture Research Center

Nature, 2004, vol. 427, issue 6972, 348-352

Abstract: Abstract Many diverse systems for sex determination have evolved in plants and animals1,2,3. One involves physically distinct (heteromorphic) sex chromosomes (X and Y, or Z and W) that are homozygous in one sex (usually female) and heterozygous in the other (usually male). Sex chromosome evolution is thought to involve suppression of recombination around the sex determination genes, rendering permanently heterozygous a chromosomal region that may then accumulate deleterious recessive mutations by Muller's ratchet, and fix deleterious mutations by hitchhiking as nearby favourable mutations are selected on the Y chromosome4,5. Over time, these processes may cause the Y chromosome to degenerate and to diverge from the X chromosome over much of its length; for example, only 5% of the human Y chromosome still shows X–Y recombination6. Here we show that papaya contains a primitive Y chromosome, with a male-specific region that accounts for only about 10% of the chromosome but has undergone severe recombination suppression and DNA sequence degeneration. This finding provides direct evidence for the origin of sex chromosomes from autosomes.

Date: 2004
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DOI: 10.1038/nature02228

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