Deletions on mouse Yq lead to upregulation of multiple X- and Y-linked transcripts in spermatids

The two right hand panels in Figure 4 of this paper are reproduced from figure 7 of Touré et al, 2004 [1] by kind permission of the Genetics Society of America. Touré et al, 2004 used Northern blotting to show that the Y-linked genes Ssty1 and Ssty2 have reduced expression in a range of mouse genotypes with deletions on the Y chromosome long arm. This paper shows that X-linked genes are upregulated in the various deleted genotypes. A further companion paper was published in Genome Biology (Touré et al, 2005 [2] showing that two novel genes, Sly and Asty are also present on mouse Yq and have reduced expression in these deleted genotypes. Since two of the genotypes concerned are sterile and very hard to generate, all the Northern blot experiments in these papers were performed on a single membrane that was stripped and re-probed with a range of different X- and Y-linked genes. The same beta-actin loading control image thus necessarily applies to all the data presented, and was shown in all three papers. The Ssty1 panel was also repeated in this paper in order to demonstrate the loss of Yq material in the deleted genotypes. We regret that this was not made clear in the Methods and figure legends at the time of publication.