Rapid chromosome evolution and acquisition of thermosensitive stochastic sex determination in nematode androdioecious hermaphrodites.

ABSTRACT: The factors contributing to evolution of androdioecy, the coexistence of hermaphrodites and males such as in Caenorhabditis elegans, remains poorly known. However, nematodes exhibit androdioecy in at last 13 genera with the predatory genus Pristionchus having seven independent transitions towards androdioecy. Nonetheless, associated genomic architecture and sex determination mechanisms are largely known from Caenorhabditis. Here, studying 47 Pristionchus species, we observed repeated chromosome evolution which abolished the ancestral XX/XO sex chromosome system. Two phylogenetically unrelated androdioecious Pristionchus species have no genomic differences between sexes and mating hermaphrodites with males resulted in hermaphroditic offspring only. We demonstrate that stochastic sex determi

SUBMITTER: Yoshida K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11544036 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature