Monday– Classes 2-8 pm Berlin time

We will introduce different sex determination systems and explore types of sex chromosomes (X0, XY, ZW, UV). We will then discuss the typical workflows from study design, sample collection, through NGS data to sex chromosome identification.
We will start the practical sessions with an introduction to Unix, manipulation of the NGS data, mapping sequencing reads to reference genomes, and finally, we will use coverage-based methods to identify sex-linked genomic regions.

Tuesday– Classes 2-8 pm Berlin time

We will continue with sex-chromosome identification analysis using k-mer based methods. We will explore the structural characteristics of sex chromosomes.


Wednesday– Classes 2-8 pm Berlin time

We will use transcriptomic reads from males and females (reproductive and somatic tissues) to investigate sex-biased gene expression patterns in each tissue. Next, we will look at the expression profiles of protein-coding genes on the sex chromosomes, estimate their sequence divergence, explore evolutionary strata, and study dosage compensation.

Thursday– Classes 2-8 pm Berlin time

We will investigate the mechanisms of suppression of recombination and expansion of sex-determining regions. We will continue the study of sex chromosomes evolution using cross-species comparisons. We will perform genome synteny analysis and infer the rates of gene gain/loss in the sex-specific regions.

Friday– Classes 2-8 pm Berlin time