Ml. Delbridge et al., A HUMAN CANDIDATE SPERMATOGENESIS GENE, RBM1, IS CONSERVED AND AMPLIFIED ON THE MARSUPIAL Y-CHROMOSOME, Nature genetics, 15(2), 1997, pp. 131-136
Three genes, RBM1, DAZ and TSPY, map to a small region of the long arm
of the human Y chromosome which is deleted in azoospermic men. RBM1,
but not DAZ or TSPY, has a Y-linked homologue in marsupials which is t
ranscribed in the testis. This suggests that RBM1 has been retained on
the Y chromosome because of a critical male-specific function. Marsup
ial RBM1 is closely related to human RBM1, but, like the related autos
omal gene hnRNPG, lacks the amplification of an exon. This suggests th
at RBM1 evolved from hnRNPG at least 130 million years ago and has und
ergone internal amplification in primates, as well as independent ampl
ification in several eutherian lineages.