Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on September 28, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Disentangling the relationship between sex-biased gene expression and X-linkage Richard P. Meisel1∗, John H. Malone2;3∗, Andrew G. Clark1 1) Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY USA 2) Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD USA 3) Current affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL USA * Equal contributions To whom correspondence should be addressed: Richard P. Meisel Dept. Molecular Biology and Genetics 221 Biotechnology Bldg. Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 U.S.A. phone: 1-607-255-1707 fax: 1-607-255-6249 email:
[email protected] Running title: X-linkage and sex-biased expression Keywords: Sex-bias, X chromosome, gene expression, Drosophila, Mouse 1 Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on September 28, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press ABSTRACT X chromosomes are preferentially transmitted through females, which may favor the accumu- lation of X-linked alleles/genes with female-beneficial effects. Numerous studies have shown that genes with sex-biased expression are under- or over-represented on the X chromosomes of a wide variety of organisms. The patterns, however, vary between different animal species, and the causes of these differences are unresolved. Additionally, genes with sex-biased expres- sion tend to be narrowly expressed in a limited number of tissues, and narrowly expressed genes are also non-randomly X-linked in a taxon-specific manner.