Genomic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Avian Sex Chromosomes and Sex-Linked Genes.

Sex chromosomes and sex-linked genes usually show unusual features comparing to the rest of the genome and thus are of particular interests to evolutionary and developmental biologists. Here we describe recently developed bioinformatic methods for identifying sex-linked sequences, in a genome without priori linkage information. Some are developed during our course of studying avian genomes. These methods require sequence data, either assembled draft genome or raw sequences derived from the heterogametic sex (e.g., a female bird or a male mammal). Their application is not restricted to birds but can be used for any species with a sex chromosome pair that has diverged from each other for a substantial degree.