Gene traffic mediated by transposable elements shaped the dynamic evolution of ancient sex chromosomes of varanid lizard

Zexian Zhu; Jason Dobry; Erik Wapstra; Qi Zhou; Tariq Ezaz

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2025.08.002

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Gene traffic mediated by transposable elements shaped the dynamic evolution of ancient sex chromosomes of varanid lizard

doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2025.08.002

a. Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Research Center and Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China;
b. Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra, 2601, Australian Capital Territory, Australia;
c. School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia;
d. Center for Reproductive Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China;
e. Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China;
f. State Key Laboratory of Transvascular Implantation Devices, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China

Funds:

Qi Zhou is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFA1800500, 2024YFA1802500), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32170415). Jason Dobry is partially supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) stipend scholarship. Tariq Ezaz and Erik Wapstra were partially supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant (ARC DP200101406).

Received Date: 2025-06-14
Accepted Date: 2025-08-07
Rev Recd Date: 2025-08-04

Available Online: 2025-08-19

Abstract

Abstract

Lizards usually exhibit frequent turnovers and a much greater diversity of sex determination mechanisms compared to birds and mammals, with the conserved ZW sex chromosomes of anguimorph lizards originating over 115 million years ago a seeming exception. We previously discovered in an anguimorph lizard Varanus acanthurus (Vac) whose entire chrW, but not chrZ is homologous to part of the chr2 by cytogenetic mapping, suggesting its complex history of sex chromosome evolution yet to be elucidated. To address this, we assemble a chromosome-level genome, and provide evidence that the Vac sex chromosome pair has undergone at least two times of recombination loss, producing a pattern of evolutionary strata like that of birds and mammals. Comparison to other lizard genomes date the stepwise propagation of specific retrotransposon subfamilies enriched near the duplicated gene pairs on the chrW and chr2 to the varanid ancestor. These retrotransposons probably have mediated the recruitment and amplification of autosomal genes on the chrW, including members of a large vomeronasal chemosensory receptor gene family V2R. Our results suggest that the W or Y chromosome as a refugium of repetitive elements, may recurrently recruit short-lived functional genes responsible for sexual dimorphisms during its long-term course of degeneration.
- Varanus,
- Sex chromosome,
- Retrotransposon,
- Gene traffic,
- V2R

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References(110)

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