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The human Y chromosome, in the light of evolution
B T Lahn1, N M Pearson, K Jegalian
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. blahn@genetics.uchicago.edu
Nature Reviews. Genetics
|March 21, 2001
Abstract:
Most eukaryotic chromosomes, akin to messy toolboxes, store jumbles of genes with diverse biological uses. The linkage of a gene to a particular chromosome therefore rarely hints strongly at that gene's function. One striking exception to this pattern of gene distribution is the human Y chromosome. Far from being random and diverse, known human Y-chromosome genes show just a few distinct expression profiles. Their relative functional conformity reflects evolutionary factors inherent to sex-specific chromosomes.