---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
_id: '21486'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Sex-chromosome systems are highly variable across animals, but how they transition
    from one to another is not well understood. Diptera have undergone multiple sex-chromosome
    turnovers and expansions while maintaining their general chromosomal content,
    which makes them an ideal clade to study such transitions. We analyzed more than
    100 dipteran whole-genome assemblies and identified 4 new lineages that underwent
    sex-chromosome turnover (in addition to the 5 previously reported). We find that
    the majority of turnovers happened in the group Schizophora, which tend to have
    fewer genes on Muller element F (the chromosome homologous to the ancestral insect
    X chromosome) than lower dipterans, a factor previously hypothesized to facilitate
    turnover. Most derived X chromosomes have higher GC content than autosomes, consistent
    with a high prevalence of male achiasmy in Diptera. In addition, an excess of
    gene movement out of the X is detected for most of these new X chromosomes, and
    many of these moved genes have high testis expression in Drosophila, suggesting
    that out-of-X gene movement contributes to the long-term demasculinization of
    X chromosomes.
acknowledgement: This work was supported by a grant from the Austrian Science Fund
  (FWF, grant number PAT 8748323) to B.V. We thank the Vicoso group for their feedback
  on an early version of the manuscript. We are grateful to Kamil Jaron and Julia
  Gries for helpful discussions and for sharing their unpublished work. Computational
  resources and support were provided by the Scientific Computing Unit at ISTA.
article_number: qrag003
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Lorena Alexandra
  full_name: Layana Franco, Lorena Alexandra
  id: 02814589-eb8f-11eb-b029-a70074f3f18f
  last_name: Layana Franco
  orcid: 0000-0002-1253-6297
- 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: Layana Franco LA, Toups MA, Vicoso B. Causes and consequences of sex-chromosome
    turnovers in Diptera. <i>Evolution Letters</i>. 2026. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003">10.1093/evlett/qrag003</a>
  apa: Layana Franco, L. A., Toups, M. A., &#38; Vicoso, B. (2026). Causes and consequences
    of sex-chromosome turnovers in Diptera. <i>Evolution Letters</i>. Oxford University
    Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003">https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003</a>
  chicago: Layana Franco, Lorena Alexandra, Melissa A Toups, and Beatriz Vicoso. “Causes
    and Consequences of Sex-Chromosome Turnovers in Diptera.” <i>Evolution Letters</i>.
    Oxford University Press, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003">https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003</a>.
  ieee: L. A. Layana Franco, M. A. Toups, and B. Vicoso, “Causes and consequences
    of sex-chromosome turnovers in Diptera,” <i>Evolution Letters</i>. Oxford University
    Press, 2026.
  ista: Layana Franco LA, Toups MA, Vicoso B. 2026. Causes and consequences of sex-chromosome
    turnovers in Diptera. Evolution Letters., qrag003.
  mla: Layana Franco, Lorena Alexandra, et al. “Causes and Consequences of Sex-Chromosome
    Turnovers in Diptera.” <i>Evolution Letters</i>, qrag003, Oxford University Press,
    2026, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003">10.1093/evlett/qrag003</a>.
  short: L.A. Layana Franco, M.A. Toups, B. Vicoso, Evolution Letters (2026).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2026-03-23T15:05:42Z
date_published: 2026-03-12T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-03-24T07:14:08Z
day: '12'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: BeVi
- _id: GradSch
doi: 10.1093/evlett/qrag003
has_accepted_license: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrag003
month: '03'
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: Evolution Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2056-3744
publication_status: epub_ahead
publisher: Oxford University Press
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: Causes and consequences of sex-chromosome turnovers in Diptera
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
year: '2026'
...