TY - JOUR
T1 - Why Do Sex Chromosomes Stop Recombining?
AU - Ponnikas, Suvi
AU - Sigeman, Hanna
AU - Abbott, Jessica K.
AU - Hansson, Bengt
PY - 2018/7
Y1 - 2018/7
N2 - It is commonly assumed that sex chromosomes evolve recombination suppression because selection favours linkage between sex-determining and sexually antagonistic genes. However, although the role of sexual antagonism during sex chromosome evolution has attained strong support from theory, experimental and observational evidence is rare or equivocal. Here, we highlight alternative, often neglected, hypotheses for recombination suppression on sex chromosomes, which invoke meiotic drive, heterozygote advantage, and genetic drift, respectively. We contrast the hypotheses, the situations when they are likely to be of importance, and outline why it is surprisingly difficult to test them. Lastly, we discuss future research directions (including modelling, population genomics, comparative approaches, and experiments) to disentangle the different hypotheses of sex chromosome evolution.
AB - It is commonly assumed that sex chromosomes evolve recombination suppression because selection favours linkage between sex-determining and sexually antagonistic genes. However, although the role of sexual antagonism during sex chromosome evolution has attained strong support from theory, experimental and observational evidence is rare or equivocal. Here, we highlight alternative, often neglected, hypotheses for recombination suppression on sex chromosomes, which invoke meiotic drive, heterozygote advantage, and genetic drift, respectively. We contrast the hypotheses, the situations when they are likely to be of importance, and outline why it is surprisingly difficult to test them. Lastly, we discuss future research directions (including modelling, population genomics, comparative approaches, and experiments) to disentangle the different hypotheses of sex chromosome evolution.
KW - heterozygote advantage
KW - meiotic drive
KW - recombination suppression
KW - sex chromosome
KW - sex determination
KW - sexual antagonism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046168465&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tig.2018.04.001
DO - 10.1016/j.tig.2018.04.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 29716744
AN - SCOPUS:85046168465
SN - 0168-9525
VL - 34
SP - 492
EP - 503
JO - Trends in Genetics
JF - Trends in Genetics
IS - 7
ER -