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Climate-driven population divergence in sex-determining systems
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Journal Article
Climate-driven population divergence in sex-determining systems
2010
Overview
Sex determined by climate
In vertebrates, sex can be determined either genetically or by the temperature experienced by the embryo, but the evolutionary causes of this variation remain poorly understood. Pen
et al
. show that a live-bearing lizard at different climatic extremes of its range uses different sex-determining mechanisms — temperature in the lowlands and genotype at higher altitudes. Divergent natural selection on sex determination by altitude is caused by climatic effects on lizard life history and variation in the magnitude of between-year temperature fluctuations. The results establish an adaptive explanation for intra-specific divergence in sex-determining systems.
In vertebrates, sex can be determined either genetically or by temperature, but the evolutionary causes of this variation remain unknown. These authors show how live-bearing lizards at different climatic extremes of their range differ in their sex-determining mechanisms, with temperature-dependent sex determination in the lowlands and genotypic sex determination at higher altitudes. Their results establish an adaptive explanation for intra-specific divergence in sex-determining systems driven by phenotypic plasticity and ecological selection.
Sex determination is a fundamental biological process, yet its mechanisms are remarkably diverse
1
,
2
. In vertebrates, sex can be determined by inherited genetic factors or by the temperature experienced during embryonic development
2
,
3
. However, the evolutionary causes of this diversity remain unknown. Here we show that live-bearing lizards at different climatic extremes of the species’ distribution differ in their sex-determining mechanisms, with temperature-dependent sex determination in lowlands and genotypic sex determination in highlands. A theoretical model parameterized with field data accurately predicts this divergence in sex-determining systems and the consequence thereof for variation in cohort sex ratios among years. Furthermore, we show that divergent natural selection on sex determination across altitudes is caused by climatic effects on lizard life history and variation in the magnitude of between-year temperature fluctuations. Our results establish an adaptive explanation for intra-specific divergence in sex-determining systems driven by phenotypic plasticity and ecological selection, thereby providing a unifying framework for integrating the developmental, ecological and evolutionary basis for variation in vertebrate sex determination.
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
Subject
/ 631/601
/ Altitude
/ Animal, plant and microbial ecology
/ Animals
/ Biological and medical sciences
/ Climate
/ Female
/ Females
/ Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
/ Genotype
/ Humanities and Social Sciences
/ letter
/ Lizards
/ Male
/ Ratios
/ Science
/ Sex Determination Processes - genetics
/ Sex Determination Processes - physiology
/ Sex Differentiation - genetics
