Open AccessOccasional paternal inheritance of the germline-restricted chromosome in songbirds
Author(s) -
Yifan Pei,
Wolfgang Forstmeier,
Francisco J. Ruíz-Ruano,
Jakob C. Mueller,
J. Cabrero,
Juan Pedro M. Camacho,
Juan de Dios Alché,
André Franke,
Marc P. Hoeppner,
Stefan Boerno,
Ivana Gessara,
Moritz Hertel,
Kim Teltscher,
Ulrich Knief,
Alexander Suh,
Bart Kempenaers
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2103960119
Subject(s) - zebra finch , biology , germline , haplotype , genetics , population , ploidy , sperm , chromosome , taeniopygia , germline mosaicism , heterogametic sex , evolutionary biology , allele , gene , demography , neuroscience , sociology
Significance Most if not all songbirds possess a germline-restricted chromosome (GRC) which is believed to be exclusively maternally inherited. However, we show that, in the zebra finch, the GRC can also be paternally inherited and that the potential for paternal inheritance may differ between families. We further show that the genetic diversity of the GRC is extremely reduced compared to the high diversity of mitochondrial DNA lineages, suggesting that a single GRC haplotype has spread through the Australian zebra finch population relatively recently via occasional paternal inheritance. Our study therefore suggests that the GRC has the potential to evolve in a selfish manner, which could result in intragenomic conflict.