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Conflict over condition-dependent sex allocation can lead to mixed sex-determination systems

Kuijper, B; Pen, I; (2014) Conflict over condition-dependent sex allocation can lead to mixed sex-determination systems. Evolution , 68 (11) 3229 - 3247. 10.1111/evo.12513. Green open access

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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.

Type: Article
Title: Conflict over condition-dependent sex allocation can lead to mixed sex-determination systems
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/evo.12513
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evo.12513
Additional information: Copyright © 2014 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Genetic conflict, heterogamety, parent–offspring conflict, sex chromosomes, sex determination, sex ratios, temperature
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1465964
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