Janzen F J, Phillips P C
Department of Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology, Center for Integrated Animal Genomics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
J Evol Biol. 2006 Nov;19(6):1775-84. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01138.x.
Environmental sex determination has been documented in a variety of organisms for many decades and the adaptive significance of this unusual sex-determining mechanism has been clarified empirically in most cases. In contrast, temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) in amniote vertebrates, first noted 40 years ago in a lizard, has defied a general satisfactory evolutionary explanation despite considerable research effort. After briefly reviewing relevant theory and prior empirical work, we draw attention to recent comparative analyses that illuminate the evolutionary history of TSD in amniote vertebrates and point to clear avenues for future research on this challenging topic. To that end, we then highlight the latest empirical findings in lizards and turtles, as well as promising experimental results from a model organism, that portend an exciting future of progress in finally elucidating the evolutionary cause(s) and significance of TSD.
几十年来，环境性别决定现象已在多种生物中得到记载，在大多数情况下，这种不同寻常的性别决定机制的适应性意义已通过实证得以阐明。相比之下，羊膜动物脊椎动物的温度依赖型性别决定（TSD），早在40年前在一种蜥蜴中首次被发现，尽管进行了大量研究，但仍未得到一个普遍令人满意的进化解释。在简要回顾相关理论和先前的实证研究后，我们提请注意最近的比较分析，这些分析阐明了羊膜动物脊椎动物TSD的进化历史，并为这个具有挑战性的主题指明了未来研究的明确方向。为此，我们随后强调了蜥蜴和海龟的最新实证研究结果，以及来自一种模式生物的有前景的实验结果，这些都预示着在最终阐明TSD的进化原因和意义方面将有令人兴奋的未来进展。
