How Evolutionarily Stable is the Xx/Xy Sex-Determination System?

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt O. Bengtsson

The sex of a zygote is often decided by an XX/XY sex-determination mechanism. One important property of this system is the approximate numerical equality of the two sexes (at least at fertilization) due to mendelian segregation. Does the obvious evolutionary stability of the XX/XY sex-determination system pose a difficult problem to population genetics? We study the fate of new mutations occurring in populations with an XX/XY system, where the mutations are such that they change the sex-determination system. If such mutations occur frequently and the conditions for their initial increase are weak, then the evolutionary stability of the XX/XY system is hard to understand.

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Bengt O. Bengtsson

The sex of a zygote is often decided by an XX/XY sex-determination mechanism. One important property of this system is the approximate numerical equality of the two sexes (at least at fertilization) due to mendelian segregation. Does the obvious evolutionary stability of the XX/XY sex-determination system pose a difficult problem to population genetics? We study the fate of new mutations occurring in populations with an XX/XY system, where the mutations are such that they change the sex-determination system. If such mutations occur frequently and the conditions for their initial increase are weak, then the evolutionary stability of the XX/XY system is hard to understand.


Fishes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Thitipong Panthum ◽  
Nararat Laopichienpong ◽  
Ekaphan Kraichak ◽  
Worapong Singchat ◽  
Dung Ho My Nguyen ◽  
...  

The snakeskin gourami (Trichopodus pectoralis) has a high meat yield and is one of the top five aquaculture freshwater fishes in Thailand. The species is not externally sexually dimorphic, and its sex determination system is unknown. Understanding the sex determination system of this species will contribute to its full-scale commercialization. In this study, a cytogenetic analysis did not reveal any between-sex differences in chromosomal patterns. However, we used genotyping-by-sequencing to identify 4 male-linked loci and 1 female-linked locus, indicating that the snakeskin gourami tends to exhibit an XX/XY sex determination system. However, we did not find any male-specific loci after filtering the loci for a ratio of 100:0 ratio of males:females. This suggests that the putative Y chromosome is young and that the sex determination region is cryptic. This approach provides solid information that can help identify the sex determination mechanism and potential sex determination regions in the snakeskin gourami, allowing further investigation of genetic improvements in the species.


1972 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. Singh

A dioecious grass Sohnsia filifolia (Fourn.) Airy Shaw (Syn. Calamochloa filifolia Fourn.) from Mexico has been found to have 2n = 20 chromosomes in both male and female plants. The staminate plants have one chromosome much longer than the other chromosomes of the complement. One pistillate plant was found to have 30 chromosomes, among which the largest chromosome is quite similar to the largest component of the diploid male plant. The longest chromosome has been designated as the Y chromosome. An XY-mechanism of the Drosophilia type has been suggested for the sex determination system in this species. One small supernumerary chromosome was observed in the microsporocytes of some male plants, but was absent in roots.


2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1832) ◽  
pp. 20200089
Author(s):  
Heiner Kuhl ◽  
Yann Guiguen ◽  
Christin Höhne ◽  
Eva Kreuz ◽  
Kang Du ◽  
...  

Several hypotheses explain the prevalence of undifferentiated sex chromosomes in poikilothermic vertebrates. Turnovers change the master sex determination gene, the sex chromosome or the sex determination system (e.g. XY to WZ). Jumping master genes stay main triggers but translocate to other chromosomes. Occasional recombination (e.g. in sex-reversed females) prevents sex chromosome degeneration. Recent research has uncovered conserved heteromorphic or even homomorphic sex chromosomes in several clades of non-avian and non-mammalian vertebrates. Sex determination in sturgeons (Acipenseridae) has been a long-standing basic biological question, linked to economical demands by the caviar-producing aquaculture. Here, we report the discovery of a sex-specific sequence from sterlet ( Acipenser ruthenus ). Using chromosome-scale assemblies and pool-sequencing, we first identified an approximately 16 kb female-specific region. We developed a PCR-genotyping test, yielding female-specific products in six species, spanning the entire phylogeny with the most divergent extant lineages ( A. sturio, A. oxyrinchus versus A. ruthenus, Huso huso ), stemming from an ancient tetraploidization. Similar results were obtained in two octoploid species ( A. gueldenstaedtii, A. baerii ). Conservation of a female-specific sequence for a long period, representing 180 Myr of sturgeon evolution, and across at least one polyploidization event, raises many interesting biological questions. We discuss a conserved undifferentiated sex chromosome system with a ZZ/ZW-mode of sex determination and potential alternatives. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Challenging the paradigm in sex chromosome evolution: empirical and theoretical insights with a focus on vertebrates (Part I)’.


PLoS Genetics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e1008845
Author(s):  
Takashi Akagi ◽  
Kenta Shirasawa ◽  
Hideki Nagasaki ◽  
Hideki Hirakawa ◽  
Ryutaro Tao ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 2251-2266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulin Zhou ◽  
Junjie Wu ◽  
Zhongwei Wang ◽  
Guanghua Li ◽  
Jie Mei ◽  
...  

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