Divergent evolution toward sex chromosome-specific gene regulation in Drosophila

Abstract In this study, Villa et al. compared the targeting mechanisms of the dosage compensation complex in two Drosophila species, D. melanogaster and D. virilis, that are separated by >40 million years of evolution. Using biochemical and genomic approaches, they found that the main determinants of X-chromosome recognition are conserved, but their relative contributions diverged, illustrating how components of an ancient dosage compensation system can be refined along distinct, species-specific evolutionary trajectories. Article type: Research Article Keywords: DNA binding, chromatin,