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The X chromosome of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is homologous to a fly X chromosome despite 400 million years divergence.

Richard P MeiselPablo J DelclosJudith R Wexler
Published in: BMC biology (2019)
Our results support our hypothesis that the German cockroach shares the same X chromosome as most flies. This may represent the convergent evolution of the X chromosome in the lineages leading to cockroaches and flies. Alternatively, the common ancestor of most insects may have had an X chromosome that resembled the extant cockroach and fly X. Cockroaches and flies diverged ∼ 400 million years ago, which would be the longest documented conservation of a sex chromosome. Cockroaches and flies have different mechanisms of sex determination, raising the possibility that the X chromosome was conserved despite the evolution of the sex determination pathway.
Keyphrases
  • copy number
  • drosophila melanogaster
  • dna damage
  • mass spectrometry
  • dna repair
  • molecularly imprinted
  • solid phase extraction
  • high resolution