Evolution of sex chromosomes and dosage compensation in monitor lizards

Sex determination in varanids, Gila monsters, beaded lizards and other anguimorphan lizards is still poorly understood. Sex chromosomes were reported only in a few species based solely on cytogenetics, which precluded assessment of their homology. We uncovered Z-chromosome specific genes in varanids from their transcriptomes. The analysis of transcriptomes of Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) showed that the expression levels of genes linked to anguimorphan sex chromosomes are not balanced between sexes and hence lack global dosage compensation.