Abstract
X inactivation is a fundamental mechanism in eutherian mammals to restore a balance of X-linked gene products between XY males and XX females. However, it has never been extensively studied in a eutherian species with a sex determination system that deviates from the ubiquitous XX/XY. In this study, we explore the X inactivation process in the African pygmy mouse Mus minutoides, that harbours a polygenic sex determination with three sex chromosomes: Y, X, and a feminizing mutant X, named X*; females can thus be XX, XX*, or X*Y, and all males are XY. Using immunofluorescence, we investigated histone modification patterns between the two X chromosome types. We found that the X and X* chromosomes are randomly inactivated in XX* females, while no histone modifications were detected in X*Y females. Furthermore, in M. minutoides, X and X* chromosomes are fused to different autosomes, and we were able to show that the X inactivation never spreads into the autosomal segments. Evaluation of X inactivation by immunofluorescence is an excellent quantitative procedure, but it is only applicable when there is a structural difference between the two chromosomes that allows them to be distinguished.
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Acknowledgements
We are especially indebted to the animal breeding facility of Montpellier University (CECEMA). We thank M. Rahmoun for her technical help and PA Saunders for comments on the manuscript. Experiments were performed at the CytoEvol facilities of ISEM and CBGP (labex CeMEB). This article is dedicated to the memory of our friend, colleague, and mentor Janice Britton-Davidian. She was a great scientist and a remarkable woman, and it was through her intellectual leadership that the cytogenetic work on the African pygmy mouse was initiated.
Funding
This study was supported by the ANR grant “SEXYMUS” (no. 10-JCJC-1605).
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The experimental protocol was performed in accordance with European guidelines and with the approval of the Ethical Committee on Animal Care and Use of France (no. CEEA-LR-12170).
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Veyrunes, F., Perez, J. X inactivation in a mammal species with three sex chromosomes. Chromosoma 127, 261–267 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-017-0657-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-017-0657-2