Open AccessMight Gene Duplication and Neofunctionalization Contribute to the Sexual Lability Observed in Fish?
Author(s) -
Jonika Edgecombe,
Lara Urban,
Erica V. Todd,
Neil J. Gemmell
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sexual development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1661-5433
pISSN - 1661-5425
DOI - 10.1159/000515425
Subject(s) - neofunctionalization , biology , gene duplication , lability , sexual differentiation , fish <actinopterygii> , trait , evolutionary biology , sex reversal , gene , genetics , fishery , biochemistry , computer science , programming language
Sex determination and differentiation varies widely across vertebrates, but is most dramatically diverse in fishes. Among fishes sex reversal and sex change are observed in 41 teleost families spanning 7 orders. These sex-changing fish perhaps highlight better than any other system that sex determination is not the narrow and fixed construct we once thought, but a plastic trait that is better viewed as a reaction norm. However, while this stunning transformation is increasingly understood, a fundamental question arises, which is why some fish species have retained this inherent plasticity in sexual fate, while others have not? Here, we explore our current understanding of sex change in fish, some of the factors that permit and constrain sex reversal, and posit that gene duplication and neofunctionalization contribute to the sexual lability observed in fish.