Repeated translocation of a supergene underlying rapid sex chromosome turnover in Takifugu pufferfish.

Recent studies have revealed a surprising diversity of sex chromosomes in vertebrates. However, the detailed mechanism of their turnover is still elusive. To understand this process, it is necessary to compare closely related species in terms of sex-determining genes and the chromosomes harboring them. Here, we explored the genus Takifugu, in which one strong candidate sex-determining gene, Amhr2, has been identified. To trace the processes involved in transitions in the sex-determination system in this genus, we studied 12 species and found that while the Amhr2 locus likely determines sex in the majority of Takifugu species, three species have acquired sex-determining loci at different chromosomal locations. Nevertheless, the generation of genome assemblies for the three species revealed that they share a portion of the male-specific supergene that contains a candidate sex-determining gene, GsdfY, along with genes that potentially play a role in male fitness. The shared supergene spans ∼100 kb and is flanked by two duplicated regions characterized by CACTA transposable elements. These results suggest that the shared supergene has taken over the role of sex-determining locus from Amhr2 in lineages leading to the three species, and repeated translocations of the supergene underlie the turnover of sex chromosomes in these lineages. These findings highlight the underestimated role of a mobile supergene in the turnover of sex chromosomes in vertebrates.

A SNP in a Steroidogenic Enzyme Is Associated with Phenotypic Sex in Seriola Fishes.

Vertebrate sex development consists largely of two processes: "sex determination," the initial bifurcation of sexual identity, and "sex differentiation," which subsequently facilitates maleness or femaleness according to the sex determination signal. Steroid hormones promote multiple types of sexual dimorphism in eutherian mammals and avians [1-3], in which they are indispensable for proper sex differentiation. By contrast, in many poikilothermic vertebrates, steroid hormones have been proposed to be key players in sex determination as well as sex differentiation [4-8]. This hypothesis was introduced more than 50 years ago but has never been rigorously tested due to difficulties in discriminating the roles of steroids in sex determination and differentiation. We found that a missense SNP in the gene encoding the steroidogenic enzyme 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (Hsd17b1) was perfectly associated with ZZ/ZW sex determination in Seriola fishes. Biochemical analyses revealed that a glutamate residue present specifically in Z-type HSD17B1 attenuated interconversion between 17-keto and 17ß-hydroxy steroids relative to the allelic product from the W chromosome, which harbors glycine at that position, by disrupting the hydrogen bond network between the steroid and the enzyme's catalytic residues. Hsd17b1 mRNA is constitutively expressed in undifferentiated and differentiating gonads of both genotypic sexes, whereas W-type mRNA is expressed only in genotypic females. Meanwhile, Cyp19a1 is predominantly expressed in differentiating ovary. We conclude that the combination of Hsd17b1 alleles determines sex by modulating endogenous estrogen levels in Seriola species. These findings strongly support the long-standing hypothesis on steroids in sex determination.

Identification of the sex-determining locus in grass puffer (Takifugu niphobles) provides evidence for sex-chromosome turnover in a subset of Takifugu species.

There is increasing evidence for frequent turnover in sex chromosomes in vertebrates. Yet experimental systems suitable for tracing the detailed process of turnover are rare. In theory, homologous turnover is possible if the new sex-determining locus is established on the existing sex-chromosome. However, there is no empirical evidence for such an event. The genus Takifugu includes fugu (Takifugu rubripes) and its two closely-related species whose sex is most likely determined by a SNP at the Amhr2 locus. In these species, males are heterozygous, with G and C alleles at the SNP site, while females are homozygous for the C allele. To determine if a shift in the sex-determining locus occurred in another member of this genus, we used genetic mapping to characterize the sex-chromosome systems of Takifugu niphobles. We found that the G allele of Amhr2 is absent in T. niphobles. Nevertheless, our initial mapping suggests a linkage between the phenotypic sex and the chromosome 19, which harbors the Amhr2 locus. Subsequent high-resolution analysis using a sex-reversed fish demonstrated that the sex-determining locus maps to the proximal end of chromosome 19, far from the Amhr2 locus. Thus, it is likely that homologous turnover involving these species has occurred. The data also showed that there is a male-specific reduction of recombination around the sex-determining locus. Nevertheless, no evidence for sex-chromosome differentiation was detected: the reduced recombination depended on phenotypic sex rather than genotypic sex; no X- or Y-specific maker was obtained; the YY individual was viable. Furthermore, fine-scale mapping narrowed down the new sex-determining locus to the interval corresponding to approximately 300-kb of sequence in the fugu genome. Thus, T. niphobles is determined to have a young and small sex-determining region that is suitable for studying an early phase of sex-chromosome evolution and the mechanisms underlying turnover of sex chromosome.