Publication Date:
2018-01-05
Description:
To reveal impacts of sexual mode on genome content, we compared chromosome-scale assemblies of the outcrossing nematode Caenorhabditis nigoni to its self-fertile sibling species, C. briggsae . C. nigoni ’s genome resembles that of outcrossing relatives but encodes 31% more protein-coding genes than C. briggsae . C. nigoni genes lacking C. briggsae orthologs were disproportionately small and male-biased in expression. These include the male secreted short ( mss ) gene family, which encodes sperm surface glycoproteins conserved only in outcrossing species. Sperm from mss -null males of outcrossing C. remanei failed to compete with wild-type sperm, despite normal fertility in noncompetitive mating. Restoring mss to C. briggsae males was sufficient to enhance sperm competitiveness. Thus, sex has a pervasive influence on genome content that can be used to identify sperm competition factors.
Keywords:
Evolution, Genetics
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
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Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Geosciences
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Computer Science
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Medicine
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Natural Sciences in General
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Physics
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