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HEREDITAS(Beijing) ›› 2014, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (9): 849-856.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1005.2014.0849

• Reviews •     Next Articles

The evolution of human Y chromosome

Xianrong Yang1, Meiqin Wang2, Shaohua Li3   

  1. 1. Ophthalmology Department, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010050, China; 
    2. Tuketuo County People's Hospital, Hohhot 010200, China; 
    3. College of Basic Medicine, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010110, China
  • Received:2014-04-03 Online:2014-09-20 Published:2014-09-20

Abstract:

The human Y chromosome is always intriguing for researchers, because of its role in gender determination and its unusual evolutionary history. The Y chromosome evolves from an autosome, and its evolution has been characterized by massive gene decay. The lack of recombination and protein-coding genes and high content of repetitive sequences have hindered the progress in our understanding of the Y chromosome biology. Recently, with the advances in comparative genomics and sequencing technology, the research on Y chromosome has become a hotspot, with an intensified debate about Y-chromosome final destination resulting from degeneration. This review focuses on the structure, inheritance characteristics, gene content, and the origin and evolution of Y chromosome. We also discuss the long-term destiny of Y chromosome.

Key words: Y-chromosome degeneration, recombination suppression, evolutionary strata, transcriptome