Transitions in sex determination and sex chromosomes across vertebrate species.

ABSTRACT: Despite the prevalence of sexual reproduction across eukaryotes, there is a remarkable diversity of sex-determination mechanisms. The underlying causes of this diversity remain unclear, and it is unknown whether there are convergent trends in the directionality of turnover in sex-determination mechanisms. We used the recently assembled Tree of Sex database to assess patterns in the evolution of sex-determination systems in the remarkably diverse vertebrate clades of teleost fish, squamate reptiles and amphibians. Contrary to theoretical predictions, we find no evidence that the evolution of separate sexes is irreversible, as transitions from separate sexes to hermaphroditism occur at higher rates than the reverse in fish. We also find that transitions from environmental sex determination t

SUBMITTER: Pennell MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6095824 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature