Evolution of the control of sexual identity in nematodes

Most animals are male/female species and reproduce sexually. Variation in this pattern of reproduction has arisen many times during animal evolution, particularly in nematodes. Little is known about the evolutionary forces and constraints that influenced the origin of self-fertilization, for instanc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seminars in cell & developmental biology 2007-06, Vol.18 (3), p.362-370
Main Author: Pires-daSilva, Andre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Evolution
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism
Disorders of Sex Development
Evolution
Female
Male
Nematoda
Nematodes
Sex Characteristics
Sex determination
Sex Determination Analysis
Sex Differentiation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Most animals are male/female species and reproduce sexually. Variation in this pattern of reproduction has arisen many times during animal evolution, particularly in nematodes. Little is known about the evolutionary forces and constraints that influenced the origin of self-fertilization, for instance, a type of reproduction that seems to have evolved many times in the phylum Nematoda. Caenorhabditis elegans, a very well known nematode, provides the framework for comparative studies of sex determination. The relative ease with which nematodes can be studied in the laboratory and the fact that many recently developed techniques can be applied to many species make them attractive for comparative research. It is relatively poorly understood how the evolution of new types of sex determination and mode of reproduction results in changes in genome structure, ecology and population genetics. Here, I review the evolution of sex determination and mating types in the phylum Nematoda with the objective of providing a framework for future research.
ISSN:1084-9521
1096-3634
DOI:10.1016/j.semcdb.2006.11.014