title: The origin and evolution of the sexes: Novel insights from a distant eukaryotic linage.
abstract: Sexual reproduction is an extraordinarily widespread phenomenon that assures the production of new genetic combinations in nearly all eukaryotic lineages. Although the core features of sexual reproduction (meiosis and syngamy) are highly conserved, the control mechanisms that determine whether an individual is male or female are remarkably labile across eukaryotes. In genetically controlled sexual systems, gender is determined by sex chromosomes, which have emerged independently and repeatedly during evolution. Sex chromosomes have been studied in only a handful of classical model organism, and empirical knowledge on the origin and evolution of the sexes is still surprisingly incomplete. With the advent of new generation sequencing, the taxonomic breadth of model systems has been rapidly expanding, bringing new ideas and fresh views on this fundamental aspect of biology. This mini-review provides a quick state of the art of how the remarkable richness of the sexual characteristics of the brown algae is helping to increase our knowledge about the evolution of sex determination.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Algal Genetics Group, UMR 8227, Integrative Biology of Marine Models, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC (Université Paris-6, station biologique de Roscoff, place George-Teissier, CS 90074, 29688 Roscoff cedex, France.
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mignerot
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Algal Genetics Group, UMR 8227, Integrative Biology of Marine Models, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC (Université Paris-6, station biologique de Roscoff, place George-Teissier, CS 90074, 29688 Roscoff cedex, France. Electronic address: coelho@sb-roscoff.fr.
authors.forename: Susana M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Coelho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012723:Sex; D012730:Sex Chromosomes; D019849:Sex Determination Processes
keywords: Algues brunes; Brown algae; Chromosomes sexuels; Déterminisme du sexe; Evolution; Reproductive system; Sex chromosomes; Sex determination; Systèmes de reproduction; Évolution