The Evidence and Role of Dosage Compensation In Red Junglefowl
Date
2020-05
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
vii
ABSTRACT
Dosage compensation is referred to as the process that corrects dosage imbalance for X linked genes between male and female mammals. However, unlike mammals, there is evidence that the homogametic sex in birds (ZZ males) do not fully compensate for the two doses of transcripts produced from Z genes. This study used public data gathered by researchers from the University of Heidelberg from Red Junglefowl (the wild ancestor of the domestic chicken) to use in their organismal developmental study. After processing the data using a standard pipeline, and completing differential expression analysis, evidence suggesting partial dosage compensation in the heart, liver, brain, and cerebellum tissues of Red Junglefowl was found. Z-linked genes had an average expression fold-change between males and females of 1.50 across the four studied tissues. When the genes were evaluated by tissue – counts of Z-linked genes in each tissue, common genes among the different tissues, and their Z:A ratios showed evidence of dosage compensation. A review of the individual genes, particularly genes that effected growth and development pathways, as well as those that act on DNA itself, gave us insight into how dosage compensation is affecting Red Junglefowl. Our understanding of the implications of these patterns and genes in the ancestor of the common farm chicken Gallus gallus domesticus will lead to a greater understanding of the impact of the artificial selection for increasing meat and egg production, as well as our understanding of avian species at large.
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Keywords
biological science, red jungle fowl, dosage compensation