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Table 2 Controversies regarding meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI) and the chromosomal distribution of male-biased genes in Drosophila

From: Re-analysis of the larval testis data on meiotic sex chromosome inactivation revealed evidence for tissue-specific gene expression related to the drosophila X chromosome

 

MSCI

(1) X → A retrogenes with testis biased expression [2]

(2) Under-representation of male/testis-biased genes on the X [1]

MSCI as driving force (pros/cons)

Down-regulation of testis-specific insertions in the X. Use a single promoter [24, 29].

Down-regulation of X in meiosis. Use mixture of cells [25].

Down-regulation of X in wild-type testis as opposed to bam mutant testis [38]. bam mutant also show small degree of down regulation [31].

Complementary expression in meiosis for X → A Retrogene [25].

Under-representation of male-meiotic expressed genes in the X [25].

MSCI NOT as driving force (pros/ cons)

No global down regulation of the X chromosome in developing testis [32]. No statistical supporta.

Retrogenes with general female or unbiased expression [43]. No expression data support.

General tissue-specific under-representation on the X [32]. Tissue-specific genes are enriched with testis-biased genesa.

  1. aShown in the current work.
  2. Supportive (pros) or conflicting (cons) data related to MSCI and its role on the chromosomal distribution of male-biased genes proposed through two observations: (1) X → A retrogenes with testis biased expression; (2) Under-representation of male/testis-biased genes on the X. Details on our findings of no expression data support for female-biased or unbiased expression of the retrogenes are presented in Vibranovski, Zhang, Kemkemer, Lopes, Karr and Long: Segmental dataset and whole body expression data do not support the hypothesis that non-random movement is an intrinsic property of Drosophila retrogenes, submitted.