---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '20182'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Sex chromosomes have evolved many times throughout the tree of life, and understanding
    what has shaped their unusual morphological, sequence, and regulatory features
    has been a long-standing goal. Most early insights into insect sex chromosome
    biology came from a few model species, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster,
    which limited broad-scale evolutionary inferences. More recently, extensive comparative
    genomics studies have uncovered several unexpected patterns, which we highlight
    in this review. First, we describe the conservation of the ancestral X chromosome
    over 450 million years but also its recurrent turnover (i.e. its reversal to an
    autosome when a new X chromosome arose) in at least one order. We then summarize
    classical and more recent findings on how insects modulate the expression of X-linked
    genes following the degradation of the Y chromosome and how the diverse mechanisms
    of dosage compensation identified may elucidate important principles of sex chromosome
    regulatory evolution.
acknowledgement: This work was supported by an Austrian Research Fund (FWF) grant
  to B.V. (PAT 8748323) and by the Louisiana Board of Regents Research Competitiveness
  Subprogram (LEQSF(2025-28)-RD-A-20) to MAT.
article_number: '101411'
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: review
author:
- first_name: Melissa A
  full_name: Toups, Melissa A
  id: 4E099E4E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Toups
  orcid: 0000-0002-9752-7380
- first_name: Beatriz
  full_name: Vicoso, Beatriz
  id: 49E1C5C6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Vicoso
  orcid: 0000-0002-4579-8306
citation:
  ama: 'Toups MA, Vicoso B. Insect sex chromosome evolution: Conservation, turnover,
    and mechanisms of dosage compensation. <i>Current Opinion in Insect Science</i>.
    2025;72. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411">10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411</a>'
  apa: 'Toups, M. A., &#38; Vicoso, B. (2025). Insect sex chromosome evolution: Conservation,
    turnover, and mechanisms of dosage compensation. <i>Current Opinion in Insect
    Science</i>. Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411</a>'
  chicago: 'Toups, Melissa A, and Beatriz Vicoso. “Insect Sex Chromosome Evolution:
    Conservation, Turnover, and Mechanisms of Dosage Compensation.” <i>Current Opinion
    in Insect Science</i>. Elsevier, 2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411</a>.'
  ieee: 'M. A. Toups and B. Vicoso, “Insect sex chromosome evolution: Conservation,
    turnover, and mechanisms of dosage compensation,” <i>Current Opinion in Insect
    Science</i>, vol. 72. Elsevier, 2025.'
  ista: 'Toups MA, Vicoso B. 2025. Insect sex chromosome evolution: Conservation,
    turnover, and mechanisms of dosage compensation. Current Opinion in Insect Science.
    72, 101411.'
  mla: 'Toups, Melissa A., and Beatriz Vicoso. “Insect Sex Chromosome Evolution: Conservation,
    Turnover, and Mechanisms of Dosage Compensation.” <i>Current Opinion in Insect
    Science</i>, vol. 72, 101411, Elsevier, 2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411">10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411</a>.'
  short: M.A. Toups, B. Vicoso, Current Opinion in Insect Science 72 (2025).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2025-08-17T22:01:35Z
date_published: 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-12-30T13:14:38Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: BeVi
doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101411
external_id:
  isi:
  - '001582424100001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 262640abc34277686b56eb60102976f6
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2025-12-30T13:14:20Z
  date_updated: 2025-12-30T13:14:20Z
  file_id: '20917'
  file_name: 2025_CurrOpinionInsectScience_Toups.pdf
  file_size: 897079
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2025-12-30T13:14:20Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        72'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 8ed82125-16d5-11f0-9cad-fbcae312235b
  grant_number: PAT 8748323
  name: Sex chromosomes in evolution and development
publication: Current Opinion in Insect Science
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2214-5753
  issn:
  - 2214-5745
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: 'Insect sex chromosome evolution: Conservation, turnover, and mechanisms of
  dosage compensation'
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 72
year: '2025'
...