Dosage compensation of Z sex chromosome genes in avian fibroblast cells

Ruslan Deviatiiarov; Hiroki Nagai; Galym Ismagulov; Anastasia Stupina; Kazuhiro Wada; Shinji Ide; Noriyuki Toji; Heng Zhang; Woranop Sukparangsi; Sittipon Intarapat; Oleg Gusev; Guojun Sheng

doi:10.1186/s13059-023-03055-z

Dosage compensation of Z sex chromosome genes in avian fibroblast cells

Genome Biol. 2023 Sep 20;24(1):213. doi: 10.1186/s13059-023-03055-z.

Authors

Ruslan Deviatiiarov^#^{1

2

3

4}, Hiroki Nagai^#¹, Galym Ismagulov¹, Anastasia Stupina², Kazuhiro Wada⁵, Shinji Ide⁶, Noriyuki Toji⁵, Heng Zhang⁷, Woranop Sukparangsi⁸, Sittipon Intarapat⁹, Oleg Gusev^{10

11

12}, Guojun Sheng¹³

Affiliations

¹ International Research Center for Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
² Regulatory Genomics Research Center, Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russian Federation.
³ Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Life Improvement by Future Technologies Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁶ Kumamoto City Zoo and Botanical Garden, Kumamoto, Japan.
⁷ Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁸ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand.
⁹ Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
¹⁰ Regulatory Genomics Research Center, Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russian Federation. [email protected].
¹¹ Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan. [email protected].
¹² Life Improvement by Future Technologies Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation. [email protected].
¹³ International Research Center for Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

In birds, sex is genetically determined; however, the molecular mechanism is not well-understood. The avian Z sex chromosome (chrZ) lacks whole chromosome inactivation, in contrast to the mammalian chrX. To investigate chrZ dosage compensation and its role in sex specification, we use a highly quantitative method and analyze transcriptional activities of male and female fibroblast cells from seven bird species. Our data indicate that three fourths of chrZ genes are strictly compensated across Aves, similar to mammalian chrX. We also present a complete list of non-compensated chrZ genes and identify Ribosomal Protein S6 (RPS6) as a conserved sex-dimorphic gene in birds.

Keywords: Birds; CAGE (cap analysis of gene expression); CASI (cell autonomous sex identity); Dosage compensation; Fibroblast; RPS6 (ribosomal protein S6); Sex chromosome; Sex determination; TSS (transcription start site).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Birds / genetics
Epigenesis, Genetic*
Female
Fibroblasts
Male
Mammals
Sex Chromosomes* / genetics