TY - JOUR
T1 - Two Homogametic Genotypes – One Crayfish
T2 - On the Consequences of Intersexuality
AU - Levy, Tom
AU - Ventura, Tomer
AU - De Leo, Giulio
AU - Grinshpan, Nufar
AU - Abu Abayed, Faiza Amterat
AU - Manor, Rivka
AU - Savaya, Amit
AU - Sklarz, Menachem Y.
AU - Chalifa-Caspi, Vered
AU - Mishmar, Dan
AU - Sagi, Amir
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the following redclaw farmers in QLD, Australia, for generously allowing us to access and sample crayfish in their properties: Bill and Rhonda Keast, Colin Valverde, Klaus Cazzonelli, and Rob Hutchings. The authors also thank Raz Kedem for her valuable help in collecting the crayfish samples in Australia and Cherax Park Aquaculture farm in QLD, Australia, and the Aquaculture Research Station in Dor, Israel, for allowing us to culture the experimental populations for this study. This project was supported partially by the DeNuGReC research grant from the European Union and by the TCS Fellowship in Graduate Studies awarded to T.L. by the crustacean society. G.D.L. was partially supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment Environmental Venture Project. T.L. T.V. N.G. F.A.A, R.M. and A.S. conducted the experiments. G.D.L. developed the population dynamics model. M.Y.S. and V.C.C. performed the bioinformatics analyses. T.L. T.V. and A.S. conceived the study. T.L. M.Y.S. V.C.C. and D.M. performed the phylogenetic analysis. The paper was written by T.L. and reviewed and approved by all co-authors. A patent regarding sex-specific genomic markers in the Australian redclaw crayfish is pending (International application number: PCT/IL2018/051046, International publication number: WO/2019/058371).
Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the following redclaw farmers in QLD, Australia, for generously allowing us to access and sample crayfish in their properties: Bill and Rhonda Keast, Colin Valverde, Klaus Cazzonelli, and Rob Hutchings. The authors also thank Raz Kedem for her valuable help in collecting the crayfish samples in Australia and Cherax Park Aquaculture farm in QLD, Australia, and the Aquaculture Research Station in Dor, Israel, for allowing us to culture the experimental populations for this study. This project was supported partially by the DeNuGReC research grant from the European Union and by the TCS Fellowship in Graduate Studies awarded to T.L. by the crustacean society. G.D.L. was partially supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment Environmental Venture Project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2020/11/20
Y1 - 2020/11/20
N2 - In the Australian redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus (WZ/ZZ system), intersexuals, although exhibiting both male and female gonopores, are functional males bearing a female genotype (WZ males). Therefore, the occurrence of the unusual homogametic WW females in nature is plausible. We developed W/Z genomic sex markers and used them to investigate the genotypic structure of experimental and native C. quadricarinatus populations in Australia. We discovered, for the first time, the natural occurrence of WW females in crustacean populations. By modeling population dynamics, we found that intersexuals contribute to the growth rate of crayfish populations in the short term. Given the vastly fragmented C. quadricarinatus habitat, which is characterized by drought-flood cycles, we speculate that intersexuals contribute to the fitness of this species since they lead to occasional increment in the population growth rate which potentially supports crayfish population restoration and establishment under extinction threats or colonization events.
AB - In the Australian redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus (WZ/ZZ system), intersexuals, although exhibiting both male and female gonopores, are functional males bearing a female genotype (WZ males). Therefore, the occurrence of the unusual homogametic WW females in nature is plausible. We developed W/Z genomic sex markers and used them to investigate the genotypic structure of experimental and native C. quadricarinatus populations in Australia. We discovered, for the first time, the natural occurrence of WW females in crustacean populations. By modeling population dynamics, we found that intersexuals contribute to the growth rate of crayfish populations in the short term. Given the vastly fragmented C. quadricarinatus habitat, which is characterized by drought-flood cycles, we speculate that intersexuals contribute to the fitness of this species since they lead to occasional increment in the population growth rate which potentially supports crayfish population restoration and establishment under extinction threats or colonization events.
KW - evolutionary biology
KW - genetics
KW - genotyping
KW - zoology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092789557&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101652
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101652
M3 - Article
C2 - 33103088
AN - SCOPUS:85092789557
VL - 23
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
SN - 2589-0042
IS - 11
M1 - 101652
ER -