Sex Determination, Sex Chromosomes, and Karyotype Evolution in Insects

2016/08/20 by Heath Blackmon, Laura Ross, Doris Bachtrog · 229 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Biology #Chromosome #Evolution of sexual reproduction #Evolutionary biology #Gene #Genetics #Genome #Haplodiploidy #Heterogametic sex #Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences #Insect-Plant Interactions and Control #Karyotype #Phylogenetic tree #Plant and animal studies #Ploidy #Sex linkage #W chromosome

paper · open access · doi:10.1093/jhered/esw047

published in Journal of Heredity 108(1), 78-93 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2016/08/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Insects harbor a tremendous diversity of sex determining mechanisms both within and between groups. For example, in some orders such as Hymenoptera, all members are haplodiploid, whereas Diptera contain species with homomorphic as well as male and female heterogametic sex chromosome systems or paternal genome elimination. We have established a large database on karyotypes and sex chromosomes in insects, containing information on over 13000 species covering 29 orders of insects. This database constitutes a unique starting point to report phylogenetic patterns on the distribution of sex determination mechanisms, sex chromosomes, and karyotypes among insects and allows us to test general theories on the evolutionary dynamics of karyotypes, sex chromosomes, and sex determination systems in a comparative framework. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that male heterogamety is the ancestral mode of sex determination in insects, and transitions to female heterogamety are extremely rare. Many insect orders harbor species with complex sex chromosomes, and gains and losses of the sex-limited chromosome are frequent in some groups. Haplodiploidy originated several times within insects, and parthenogenesis is rare but evolves frequently. Providing a single source to electronically access data previously distributed among more than 500 articles and books will not only accelerate analyses of the assembled data, but also provide a unique resource to guide research on which taxa are likely to be informative to address specific questions, for example, for genome sequencing projects or large-scale comparative studies.

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• No evidence that haplodiploidy favors the evolution of eusociality
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• Recent neo-X and Y sex chromosomes in an ant cricket
• First insights into the satellitomes and new evidence for the absence of canonical insect telomere in the Neuroptera order
• Contrasting Evolutionary Trajectories Under Paternal Genome Elimination in Male and Female Citrus Mealybugs
• Chromosome-level echidna genome illuminates evolution of multiple sex chromosome system in monotremes
• Paternal Genome Elimination in Liposcelis Booklice (Insecta: Psocodea). [europepmc]
• Satellite DNA: An Evolving Topic. [europepmc]
• Convergent evolution of Y chromosome gene content in flies. [europepmc]
• Long-Term Fragility of Y Chromosomes Is Dominated by Short-Term Resolution of Sexual Antagonism. [europepmc]
• Repeated Evolution Versus Common Ancestry: Sex Chromosome Evolution in the Haplochromine Cichlid Pseudocrenilabrus philander. [europepmc]
• Sex Chromosome Turnover in Moths of the Diverse Superfamily Gelechioidea. [europepmc]
• Sex-specific changes in the aphid DNA methylation landscape. [europepmc]
• Massive gene amplification on a recently formed Drosophila Y chromosome. [europepmc]
• The X chromosome of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is homologous to a fly X chromosome despite 400 million years divergence. [europepmc]
• miRNA-1-3p is an early embryonic male sex-determining factor in the Oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis. [europepmc]
• The Y Chromosome as a Battleground for Intragenomic Conflict. [europepmc]
• High dynamism for neo-sex chromosomes: satellite DNAs reveal complex evolution in a grasshopper. [europepmc]
• Speciation through chromosomal fusion and fission in Lepidoptera. [europepmc]
• Chromosome-Scale Genome Assemblies of Aphids Reveal Extensively Rearranged Autosomes and Long-Term Conservation of the X Chromosome. [europepmc]
• Lineage-specific patterns of chromosome evolution are the rule not the exception in Polyneoptera insects. [europepmc]
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• Evolutionary Perspectives on Germline-Restricted Chromosomes in Flies (Diptera). [europepmc]
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• Diversity of Modes of Reproduction and Sex Determination Systems in Invertebrates, and the Putative Contribution of Genetic Conflict. [europepmc]
• Sex-specific aging in animals: Perspective and future directions. [europepmc]
• Transgenic expression of Nix converts genetic females into males and allows automated sex sorting in Aedes albopictus. [europepmc]
• Gene Editing and Genetic Control of Hemipteran Pests: Progress, Challenges and Perspectives. [europepmc]

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