Open AccessPolygenic sex determination produces modular sex polymorphism in an African cichlid fish
Author(s) -
Emily C. Moore,
Patrick J. Ciccotto,
Erin Peterson,
Melissa S. Lamm,
R. Craig Albertson,
Reade B. Roberts
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2118574119
Subject(s) - biology , sexual dimorphism , cichlid , genetics , locus (genetics) , allele , genotype , sex characteristics , genetic architecture , evolution of sexual reproduction , evolutionary biology , quantitative trait locus , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , gene
Significance Sex differences in traits can occur when those traits are modified by genetic factors inherited on sex chromosomes. We investigated how sex differences emerge in a species with more than one set of sex chromosomes, measuring a variety of morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits. Rather than exhibiting sexual dimorphism associated with primary sex, the species has higher-order sexual polymorphism in secondary sexual characteristics or more than two phenotypic sexes. Variation in secondary sexual characteristics is modular, involving the interplay of sex-linked and sex-limited traits. Our findings provide implications for how sex determination systems and whole-organism fitness traits coevolve, including that significant creation or loss of variation in diverse traits can occur during transitions among sex chromosome systems.