Sex Determination by Two Y-Linked Genes in Garden Asparagus Article Swipe
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· 2020
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00859
· OA: W3013206106
The origin and early evolution of sex chromosomes have been hypothesized to involve the linkage of factors with antagonistic effects on male and female function. Garden asparagus (<i>Asparagus officinalis</i>) is an ideal species to investigate this hypothesis, as the X and Y chromosomes are cytologically homomorphic and evolved from an ancestral autosome pair in association with a shift from hermaphroditism to dioecy. Mutagenesis screens paired with single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization directly implicate Y-specific genes that respectively suppress female (pistil) development and are necessary for male (anther) development. Comparison of contiguous X and Y chromosome assemblies shows that hemizygosity underlies the loss of recombination between the genes suppressing female organogenesis (<i>SUPPRESSOR OF FEMALE FUNCTION</i>) and promoting male function (<i>TAPETAL DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION1</i> [<i>aspTDF1</i>]). We also experimentally demonstrate the function of <i>aspTDF1.</i> These findings provide direct evidence that sex chromosomes can function through linkage of two sex determination genes.
