Selection drives convergent gene expression changes during transitions to co-sexuality in haploid sexual systems.

ABSTRACT: Co-sexuality has evolved repeatedly from unisexual (dioicous) ancestors across a wide range of taxa. However, the molecular changes underpinning this important transition remain unknown, particularly in organisms with haploid sexual systems such as bryophytes, red algae and brown algae. Here we explore four independent events of emergence of co-sexuality from unisexual ancestors in brown algal clades to examine the nature, evolution and degree of convergence of gene expression changes that accompany the breakdown of dioicy. The amounts of male versus female phenotypic differences in dioicous species were not correlated with the extent of sex-biased gene expression, in stark contrast to what is observed in animals. Although sex-biased genes exhibited a high turnover rate during brown alga d

SUBMITTER: Cossard GG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9085613 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature