Interactions between U and V sex chromosomes during the life cycle of Ectocarpus
Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2024 papers
Abstract
In many animals and flowering plants, sex determination occurs in the diploid phase of the life cycle with XX/XY or ZW/ZZ sex chromosomes. However, in early diverging plants and most macroalgae, sex is determined by female (U) or male (V) sex chromosomes in a haploid phase called the gametophyte. Once the U and V chromosomes unite at fertilization to produce a diploid sporophyte, sex determination no longer occurs, raising key questions about the fate of the U and V sex chromosomes in the sporophyte phase. Here, we investigate genetic and molecular interactions of the UV sex chromosomes in both the haploid and diploid phases of the brown alga Ectocarpus. We reveal extensive developmental regulation of sex chromosome genes across its life cycle and implicate the TALE-HD transcription factor OUROBOROS in suppressing sex determination in the diploid phase. Small RNAs may also play a role in the repression of a female sex-linked gene, and transition to the diploid sporophyte coincides with major reconfiguration of histone H3K79me2, suggesting a more intricate role for this histone mark in Ectocarpus development than previously appreciated.
Related Papers
- → The Diversity of the Pollen Tube Pathway in Plants: Toward an Increasing Control by the Sporophyte(2016)60 cited
- → Differences in osmoacclimation between sporophytes and gametophytes of the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus(1991)15 cited
- → Apogamy Induction in Ceratopteris richardii(2007)31 cited
- → The gametophyte-sporophyte junction: unequivocal hints for two evolutionary lines of archegoniate land plants(2001)24 cited
- Comparison of photosynthetic eco-physiological characteristics between fern Polystichum tsus-simense(Hook.)J.sporophyte and gametophyte(2012)