Diversity of sex chromosomes in Sulawesian medaka fishes

Recent genetic and genomic studies have revealed tremendous diversity in sex chromosomes across diverse taxa. Closely related species with different sex chromosomes provide us excellent opportunities to investigate the driving forces and the consequences of sex chromosome turnover. In the present study, we investigated the diversity of sex chromosomes of 13 Oryzias species from Sulawesi, Indonesia, which diversified during the last 4.86 million years. Using pooled sequencing, we found sex chromosomes in nine species that all had XY systems, with a species being possibly modified by multiple loci. Seven species (O. woworae, O. asinua, O. wolasi, O. matanensis, O. celebensis, O. hadiatyae, and O. dopingdopingensis) share linkage group (LG) 24 as sex chromosomes; however, they differed in the length and magnitude of sequence divergence between the X and Y chromosomes. The sex chromosome of O. eversi was LG4, which has not been reported as a sex chromosome in any other medaka species. In O. sarasinorum, LG16 and LG22 are associated with sex. Although LG16 was found to be sex-linked in another medaka species previously examined, the sex-determining regions did not overlap. No significant signatures for sex chromosomes were identified in the other four species (O. marmoratus, O. nigrimas, O. nebulosus, and O. orthognathus). Frequent turnovers and the great diversity of the sex chromosomes will make Sulawesian medaka species a model system for investigating the driving forces and consequences of sex chromosome turnover.

Automated summary

Recent studies have shown a wide diversity of sex chromosomes in different species. This study investigates the diversity of sex chromosomes in 13 Oryzias species from Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nine of the species were found to have XY systems, with one species possibly having multiple loci involved. Among the seven species that share a sex chromosome linkage group, they vary in the extent of sequence divergence between the X and Y chromosomes. This research highlights the potential for Sulawesian medaka species to be a valuable model system for studying sex chromosome turnover.