The SWI/SNF Protein ATRX Co-regulates Pseudoautosomal Genes that Have Translocated to Autosomes in the Mouse Genome

Authors

Michael A. Levy, University of Western OntarioFollow
Andrew D. Fernandes, University of Western OntarioFollow
Deanna C. Tremblay, Lawson Health Research InstituteFollow
Claudia Seah, University of Western OntarioFollow
Nathalie G. Bérubé, University of Western OntarioFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-8-2008

Abstract

Background: Pseudoautosomal regions (PAR1 and PAR2) in eutherians retain homologous regions between the X and Y chromosomes that play a critical role in the obligatory X-Y crossover during male meiosis. Genes that reside in the PAR1 are exceptional in that they are rich in repetitive sequences and undergo a very high rate of recombination. Remarkably, murine PAR1 homologs have translocated to various autosomes, reflecting the complex recombination history during the evolution of the mammalian X chromosome.

Results: We now report that the SNF2-type chromatin remodeling protein ATRX controls the expression of eutherian ancestral PAR1 genes that have translocated to autosomes in the mouse. In addition, we have identified two potentially novel mouse PAR1 orthologs.

Conclusion: We propose that the ancestral PAR1 genes share a common epigenetic environment that allows ATRX to control their expression.

Notes

Published in: BMC Genomics 2008, 9:468 (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-9-468). This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/468