RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Differential sperm motility mediates the sex ratio drive shaping mouse sex chromosome evolution
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 649707
DO 10.1101/649707
A1 CC Rathje
A1 EEP Johnson
A1 D Drage
A1 C Patinioti
A1 G Silvestri
A1 NA Affara
A1 C Ialy-Radio
A1 J Cocquet
A1 BM Skinner
A1 PJI Ellis
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/05/24/649707.abstract
AB Summary The search for morphological or physiological differences between X- and Y-bearing mammalian sperm has provoked controversy for decades. Many potential differences have been proposed, but none validated, while accumulating understanding of syncytial sperm development has cast doubt on whether such differences are possible even in principle. We present the first ever mammalian experimental model to trace a direct link from a measurable physiological difference between X- and Y-bearing sperm to the resulting skewed sex ratio. We show that in mice with deletions on chromosome Yq, birth sex ratio distortion is due to a relatively greater motility of X-bearing sperm, and not to any aspect of sperm/egg interaction. Moreover, the morphological distortion caused by Yq deletion is more severe in Y-bearing sperm, providing a potential hydrodynamic basis for the altered motility. This reinforces a growing body of work indicating that sperm haploid selection is an important and underappreciated evolutionary force.