In this review, we synthesize emerging evidence from animal genomics, highlighting the functional and evolutionary consequences of translocations, chromosomal fusions, and fissions. We emphasize the ...

Advancements in genome sequencing have challenged the long-standing belief that the position of the centromere in the chromosome is fixed. Researchers from Okayama University, Japan, have analyzed ...

The supernumerary B chromosome of maize has a drive mechanism to maintain itself in a population despite being dispensible. This involves nondisjunction of the B centromere at the second pollen ...

Developing elite fruit cultivars typically requires long breeding cycles, especially in perennial woody species. This study uncovers how sexual reproduction of a fertile triploid loquat generates a ...

How do living things evolve? What is the myriad of processes by which generic variations in a population affect organisms' survival and allow reproduction in an ever-changing environment? Why do these ...

A new study challenges the conventional wisdom surrounding genome stability within closely related organisms and sheds new light on the mechanisms underlying extensive genome size variation. Our ...

Highly challenging to sequence and long overlooked, the human Y chromosome's contributions to health and disease remain largely unknown. A new paper that presents, for the first time, the complete ...

Human sex chromosomes originated from a pair of autosomes, the ordinary or non-sex chromosomes that contain the majority of our genome and come in identical pairs. That ancestral pair of autosomes ...

A 3D graphic showing an artist's interpretation of human X and Y chromosomes. On the left are blue bundles of genetic material making an X shape and on the right blue bundles of genetic material ...

Understanding the material basis of adaptive evolution has been a central goal in biology dating back to at least the time of Darwin. One focus of current debates is whether adaptive evolution relies ...