Méndez-Lago, M., Bergman, C.M., de Pablos, B., Tracey, A., Whitehead, S.L., Villasante, A. (2011). A Large Palindrome With Interchromosomal Gene Duplications in the Pericentromeric Region of the D. melanogaster Y Chromosome.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 28(7): 1967--1971.

FBrf0214341

Research paper

The non-recombining Y chromosome is expected to degenerate over evolutionary time, however, gene gain is a common feature of Y chromosomes of mammals and Drosophila. Here, we report that a large palindrome containing interchromosomal segmental duplications is located in the vicinity of the first amplicon detected in the Y chromosome of D. melanogaster. The recent appearance of such amplicons suggests that duplications to the Y chromosome, followed by the amplification of the segmental duplications, are a mechanism for the continuing evolution of Drosophila Y chromosomes.

PMC4202384 (PMC) (EuropePMC)