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MBE Advance Access published online on January 11, 2007
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msm002
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Article

The Evolutionary History of Human and Chimpanzee Y-Chromosome Gene Loss

George H. Perry1,2, Raul Y. Tito1 and Brian C. Verrelli1

1 Center for Evolutionary Functional Genomics, The Biodesign Institute and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe
2 School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe

Corresponding author: Brian C. Verrelli, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, tel: (480) 965-0398, fax: (480) 965-6899, E-mail: brian.verrelli{at}asu.edu

Accepted for publication January 3, 2007.

Recent studies have suggested that gene gain and loss may contribute significantly to the divergence between humans and chimpanzees. Initial comparisons of the human and chimpanzee Y-chromosomes indicate that chimpanzees have a disproportionate loss of Y-chromosome genes, which may have implications for the adaptive evolution of sex-specific as well as reproductive traits, especially since one of the genes lost in chimpanzees is critically involved in spermatogenesis in humans. Here we have characterized Y-chromosome sequences in gorilla, bonobo, and several chimpanzee subspecies for seven chimpanzee gene disruptive mutations. Our analyses show that six of these gene disruptive mutations predate chimpanzee-bonobo divergence at ~1.8 Mya, which indicates significant Y-chromosome change in the chimpanzee lineage relatively early in the evolutionary divergence of humans and chimpanzees.

Key Words: Pseudogene • Muller's ratchet • Sperm competition • Pan troglodytes • Pan paniscus


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