Sequence Analysis and Mapping of the <i>Sry </i>Gene in Species of the Subfamily Arvicolinae (Rodentia)

Abstract

The rodent subfamily Arvicolinae, which contains about 125 species, presents some interesting exceptions concerning Sry, the sex determining gene in mammals. In some species multiple Sry copies have been described on the Y chromosome and in the Iberian vole, Microtus cabrerae, several Sry sequences have been cloned and mapped not only on the Y but also on the X chromosome. Here we present a comparative analysis of Sry sequences from a total of 22 species. Our study demonstrates for the first time that for most North American species, as previously reported for the European species, multiple copies of the Sry gene exist on the Y chromosome. Furthermore, we have sequenced and analyzed the full sequence of Sry from several European species, showing that the sequence and structure of the gene in this group of species present the main features described for Sry in other mammals. Finally, FISH analyses on some of these species demonstrated that all Sry sequences, despite their functional status, mapped on the euchromatic short arm of the Y chromosome.

Insights into the Evolutionary History of the X-Linked Sex Reversal Mutation in <b><i>Mus minutoides</i></b>: Clues from Sequence Analyses of the Y-Linked <b><i>Sry</i></b> Gene

“…Mus sensu stricto , whereas the latter 2 are from different subgenera, Coelomys and Nannomys , respectively [Veyrunes et al, 2006]. These sequence similarities are equivalent to what is observed between 4 genera of North American voles [Acosta et al, 2010], but lower than between 6 African murid genera (97-100%) [Lundrigan and Tucker, 1997]. Hence, the similarity of nucleotide sequences within the genus Mus is comparable, if not lower, to those observed between closely related genera.…”

“…In contrast to most mammals, including the house mouse and human that possess a single copy of the Sry gene, multiple Y-specific copies have been reported in several other Mus species and some other rodents [Nagamine, 1994;Lundrigan and Tucker, 1997;Acosta et al, 2010]. Interestingly, among the mammals with multiple copies of this gene, a notable proportion concerns species with atypical sex determination systems ( Microtus cabrerae and M. oregoni in Bullejos et al [1997] and Acosta et al [2010]; Akodon sp.…”

“…Interestingly, among the mammals with multiple copies of this gene, a notable proportion concerns species with atypical sex determination systems ( Microtus cabrerae and M. oregoni in Bullejos et al [1997] and Acosta et al [2010]; Akodon sp. in Sánchez et al [2010]; Tokudaia muenninki , sister species of T. osimensis , in Murata et al [2010]; this study).…”

No Differences in the Sry Gene between Males and XY Females in Akodon (Rodentia, Cricetidae)

“…In addition, in the upstream sequence we found a (TC) n microsatellite ( fig. 3 ), which is also present at the same position in the Sry genes of mouse [Washburn et al, 2001], Clethrionomys rufocanus , Eothenomys andersoni and Eothenomys smithii [Iwasa et al, 2000;Iwasa and Suzuki, 2002] and in all the species of Arvicolinae analyzed by our group [Acosta et al, 2010]. -X3Y-F81-1 ......................................................................................................... Aaz-X3Y-F81-3 .................................................................................................... -XY-F87-17 ..............................................................T..................A....................... Abo-XY-F100-19 ..............................................................T..................A.................. X3Y-F81-1 ..........G.............................................................................................. Aaz-X3Y-F81-3 .................................................................................................... -XY-F87-17 ........A..............................................................................................G. Abo-XY-F100-19 .................................................................................................... X3Y-F81-1 .................................................................................................... Aaz-X3Y-F81-1 ................................................................................................... Aaz-X3Y-F81-3 .............................................................................................. -XY-F100-19 ...............................TACTGAGTTTC.................................................... With respect to mouse Sry, it has been suggested that this microsatellite could be involved in the formation of a secondary structure that would reduce translational efficiency [Hacker et al, 1995].…”

“…Our results are consistent with the presence of several Sry copies in A. azarae and A. boliviensis individuals. The presence of several Sry copies has also been described in several murid rodents [Nagamine, 1994], in Rattus norvegicus [Turner et al, 2007], and in several Arvicolinae species [Bullejos et al, 1997[Bullejos et al, , 1999Acosta et al, 2010]. While it seems that all the Sry copies in R. norvegicus are transcribed and are probably functional [Turner et al, 2007], some copies of this gene are non-functional pseudogenes in species of Arvicolinae, since they possess several premature stop codons [Bullejos et al, 1997[Bullejos et al, , 1999Marchal et al, 2008].…”