Jeffries Daniel, Benvenuto Chiara, Böhne Astrid, Fraïsse Christelle, Garcia Sònia, Jay Paul, Kratochvíl Lukáš, McDonough-Goldstein Caitlin E, Ruiz-Herrera Aurora, Sotero-Caio Cibele G, Valenzuela Nicole, Wilson Melissa A, Jaron Kamil S
Division of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Environmental Research and Innovation Centre (ERIC), School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Salford, United Kingdom.
J Evol Biol. 2025 Aug 2;38(7):861-886. doi: 10.1093/jeb/voaf053.
Reproduction is a fundamental aspect of life that affects all levels of biology, from genomes and development to population dynamics and diversification. The first Tree of Sex database synthesized a vast diversity of reproductive strategies and their intriguing distribution throughout eukaryotes. A decade on, we are reviving this initiative and greatly expanding its scope to provide the most comprehensive integration of knowledge on eukaryotic reproduction to date. In this perspective, we first identify important gaps in our current knowledge of reproductive strategies across eukaryotes. We then highlight a selection of questions that will benefit most from this new Tree of Sex project, including those related to the evolution of sex, modes of sex determination, sex chromosomes, and the consequences of various reproductive strategies. Finally, we outline our vision for the new Tree of Sex database and the consortium that will create it (treeofsex.org). The new database will cover all Eukaryota and include a wide selection of biological traits. It will also incorporate genomic data types that were scarce or non-existent at the time of the first Tree of Sex initiative. The new database will be publicly accessible, stable, and self-sustaining, thus greatly improving the accessibility of reproductive knowledge to researchers across disciplines for years to come. Lastly, the consortium will persist after the database is created to serve as a collaborative framework for research, prioritizing ethical standards in the collection, use, and sharing of reproductive data. The new Tree of Sex consortium is open, and we encourage all who are interested in this topic to join us.
繁殖是生命的一个基本方面，它影响着生物学的各个层面，从基因组、发育到种群动态和多样化。首个“性之树”数据库整合了各种各样的繁殖策略及其在整个真核生物中的有趣分布。十年过去了，我们正在重启这一计划，并大幅扩大其范围，以提供迄今为止关于真核生物繁殖知识的最全面整合。从这个角度来看，我们首先确定目前我们在真核生物繁殖策略知识方面的重要空白。然后，我们重点介绍一些将从这个新的“性之树”项目中受益最大的问题，包括与性进化、性别决定模式、性染色体以及各种繁殖策略的后果相关的问题。最后，我们概述了对新的“性之树”数据库以及将创建该数据库的联盟（treeofsex.org）的愿景。新数据库将涵盖所有真核生物，并包括广泛的生物学特征。它还将纳入在首个“性之树”计划时稀缺或不存在的基因组数据类型。新数据库将对公众开放、稳定且能够自我维持，从而在未来几年极大地提高各学科研究人员获取繁殖知识的便利性。最后，在数据库创建之后，该联盟将继续存在，作为一个研究协作框架，在繁殖数据的收集、使用和共享方面优先考虑道德标准。新的“性之树”联盟是开放的，我们鼓励所有对该主题感兴趣的人加入我们。
