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Four steps to two sexes

V Hutson1, R Law

  • 1Department of Applied Mathematics, Sheffield University, U.K.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|July 22, 1993
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Parasitic intracellular symbionts may drive the evolution of two sexes through a four-step process involving host nuclear mutations and self-incompatibility. This mechanism explains the origin of distinct gamete types in host populations.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genetics
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Biparental cytoplasmic inheritance and lack of gametic differentiation characterize primitive host populations.
  • Parasitic intracellular symbionts can invade and spread via vertical transmission, even with deleterious effects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a four-step mechanism for the evolution of two sexes driven by parasitic intracellular symbionts.
  • To investigate the role of host nuclear mutations and symbiont interactions in sex determination.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical modeling of host-symbiont interactions.
  • Analysis of genetic drift and selection pressures.
  • Simulation of evolutionary steps involving nuclear gene mutations (locus A and B) and symbiont dynamics.

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Main Results:

  • A nuclear mutant (locus A) preventing cytoplasmic inheritance establishes at intermediate frequencies due to symbiont load.
  • A linked self-incompatibility mutation (locus B) spreads by preventing deleterious gamete unions.
  • A second self-incompatibility mutation at locus B, associated with locus A, leads to the establishment of two sexes.

Conclusions:

  • Parasitic intracellular symbionts provide a feasible pathway for the evolution of anisogamy (two sexes).
  • Host genetic responses, including mutations conferring cytoplasmic incompatibility and self-incompatibility, are key drivers.
  • This model offers a potential explanation for the widespread occurrence of sexual reproduction.