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From: Bonnie Schrack <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] In Chimpanzee DNA, Signs of Y Chromosome's Evolution.
Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 15:12:20 -0400


Here is the abstract of the article on Chimp Y DNA:

Nature 437, 100-103 (1 September 2005) | doi: 10.1038/nature04101
Conservation of Y-linked genes during human evolution revealed by
comparative sequencing in chimpanzee

Jennifer F. Hughes 1, Helen Skaletsky 1, Tatyana Pyntikova 1, Patrick J.
Minx 2, Tina Graves 2, Steve Rozen 1, Richard K. Wilson 2 and David C.
Page 1

The human Y chromosome, transmitted clonally through males, contains far
fewer genes than the sexually recombining autosome from which it
evolved. The enormity of this evolutionary decline has led to
predictions that the Y chromosome will be completely bereft of
functional genes within ten million years. Although recent evidence of
gene conversion within massive Y-linked palindromes runs counter to this
hypothesis, most unique Y-linked genes are not situated in palindromes
and have no gene conversion partners. The 'impending demise' hypothesis
thus rests on understanding the degree of conservation of these genes.
Here we find, by systematically comparing the DNA sequences of unique,
Y-linked genes in chimpanzee and human, which diverged about six million
years ago, evidence that in the human lineage, all such genes were
conserved through purifying selection. In the chimpanzee lineage, by
contrast, several genes have sustained inactivating mutations. Gene
decay in the chimpanzee lineage might be a consequence of positive
selection focused elsewhere on the Y chromosome and driven by sperm
competition.

1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, and
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 9
Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
2. Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University School of
Medicine, 4444 Forest Park Boulevard, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA

Correspondence to: David C. Page

Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to D.C.P.
(Email: ). GenBank accession numbers for CERV1 and
CERV2 are AY692036 and AY692037, respectively. GenBank accession numbers
for all complementary DNA sequences are listed in Supplementary Table 5;
accession numbers for all BAC and fosmid clones are listed in
Supplementary Table 6.

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