Does degeneration or genetic conflict shape gene content on UV sex chromosomes?

Studies of sex chromosomes have played a central role in understanding the consequences of suppressed recombination and sex-specific inheritance among several genomic phenomena. However, we argue that these efforts will benefit from a more rigorous examination of haploid UV sex chromosome systems, in which both the female-limited (U) and male-limited (V) experience suppressed recombination and sex-limited inheritance, and both are transcriptionally active in the haploid and diploid states. We review the life cycle differences that generate UV sex chromosomes and genomic data showing that ancient UV systems have evolved independently in many eukaryotic groups, but gene movement on and off the sex chromosomes, and potentially degeneration continue to shape the current gene content of the U and V chromosomes. Although both theory and empirical data show that the evolution of UV sex chromosomes is shaped by many of the same processes that govern diploid sex chromosome systems, we highlight how the symmetrical inheritance between the UV chromosomes provide an important test of sex-limited inheritance in shaping genome architecture. We conclude by examining how genetic conflict (over sexual dimorphism, transmission-ratio distortion, or parent-offspring conflict) may drive gene gain on UV sex chromosomes, and highlight the role of breeding system in governing the action of these processes. Collectively these observations demonstrate the potential for evolutionary genomic analyses of varied UV sex chromosome systems, combined with natural history studies, to understand how genetic conflict shapes sex chromosome gene content.