Kuijper B, Pen I. Conflict over condition-dependent sex allocation can lead to mixed sex-determination systems.
Evolution 2014;
68:3229-47. [PMID:
25180669 PMCID:
PMC4241047 DOI:
10.1111/evo.12513]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2014] [Accepted: 07/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Theory suggests that genetic conflicts drive turnovers between sex-determining mechanisms, yet these studies only apply to cases where sex allocation is independent of environment or condition. Here, we model parent-offspring conflict in the presence of condition-dependent sex allocation, where the environment has sex-specific fitness consequences. Additionally, one sex is assumed to be more costly to produce than the other, which leads offspring to favor a sex ratio less biased toward the cheaper sex in comparison to the sex ratio favored by mothers. The scope for parent-offspring conflict depends on the relative frequency of both environments: when one environment is less common than the other, parent-offspring conflict can be reduced or even entirely absent, despite a biased population sex ratio. The model shows that conflict-driven invasions of condition-independent sex factors (e.g., sex chromosomes) result either in the loss of condition-dependent sex allocation, or, interestingly, lead to stable mixtures of condition-dependent and condition-independent sex factors. The latter outcome corresponds to empirical observations in which sex chromosomes are present in organisms with environment-dependent sex determination. Finally, conflict can also favor errors in environmental perception, potentially resulting in the loss of condition-dependent sex allocation without genetic changes to sex-determining loci.
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