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Sex determination systems have greatly diversified between amphibians and reptiles, with such as the different sex chromosome compositions within a single species and transition between temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) and genetic sex determination (GSD). In most sex chromosome studies on amphibians and reptiles, the whole‐genome sequence of Xenopous tropicalis and chicken have been used as references to compare the chromosome homology of sex chromosomes among each of these taxonomic groups, respectively. In the present study, we reviewed existing reports on sex chromosomes, including karyotypes, in amphibians and reptiles. Furthermore, we compared the identified genetic linkages of sex chromosomes in amphibians and reptiles with the chicken genome as a reference, which is believed to resemble the ancestral tetrapod karyotype. Our findings revealed that sex chromosomes in amphibians are derived from genetic linkages homologous to various chicken chromosomes, even among several frogs within single families, such as Ranidae and Pipidae. In contrast, sex chromosomes in reptiles exhibit conserved genetic linkages with chicken chromosomes, not only across most species within a single family, but also within closely related families. The diversity of sex chromosomes in amphibians and reptiles may be attributed to the flexibility of their sex determination systems, including the ease of sex reversal in these animals. Research Highlights: Particular chicken homologous chromosomes were frequently co‐opted as sex chromosomes in amphibians and reptiles.The sex chromosome diversity in these animals may be attributed to the flexibility of their sex determination systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex determination in animals is amazingly plastic. Vertebrates display contrasting strategies ranging from complete genetic control of sex (genotypic sex determination) to environmentally determined sex (for example, temperature-dependent sex determination) (1). Phylogenetic analyses suggest frequent evolutionary transitions between genotypic and temperature-dependent sex determination in environmentally sensitive lineages, including reptiles (2). These transitions are thought to involve a genotypic system becoming sensitive to temperature, with sex determined by gene-environment interactions (3). Most mechanistic models of transitions invoke a role for sex reversal (3-5). Sex reversal has not yet been demonstrated in nature for any amniote, although it occurs in fish (6) and rarely in amphibians (7,8). Here we make the first report of reptile sex reversal in the wild, in the Australian bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), and use sex-reversed animals to experimentally induce a rapid transition from genotypic to temperature-dependent sex determination. Controlled mating of normal males to sex-reversed females produces viable and fertile offspring whose phenotypic sex is determined solely by temperature (temperature-dependent sex determination). The W sex chromosome is eliminated from this lineage in the first generation. The instantaneous creation of a lineage of ZZ temperature-sensitive animals reveals a novel, climate-induced pathway for the rapid transition between genetic and temperature-dependent sex determination, and adds to concern about adaptation to rapid global climate change., Sex determination is the regulatory process that initiates differentiation of the gonads in the early embryo to form either testes or ovaries. Very many reptiles have temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), [...]

Pogona vitticeps has female heterogamety (ZZ/ZW), but the master sex-determining gene is unknown, as it is for all reptiles. We show that nr5a1 (Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 5 Group A Member 1), a gene that is essential in mammalian sex determination, has alleles on the Z andWchromosomes (Z-nr5a1 andW-nr5a1), which are both expressed and can recombine. Three transcript isoforms of Z-nr5a1 were detected in gonads of adult ZZ males, two of which encode a functional protein. However, ZW females produced 16 isoforms, most of which contained premature stop codons. The array of transcripts produced by the W-borne allele (W-nr5a1) is likely to produce truncated polypeptides that contain a structurally normal DNA-binding domain and could act as a competitive inhibitor to the full-length intact protein. We hypothesize that an altered configuration of the W chromosome affects the conformation of the primary transcript generating inhibitory W-borne isoforms that suppress testis determination. Under this hypothesis, the genetic sex determination (GSD) system of P. vitticeps is a W-borne dominant female-determining gene that may be controlled epigenetically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Extant sauropsids (reptiles and birds) are divided into two major lineages, the lineage of Testudines (turtles) and Archosauria (crocodilians and birds) and the lineage of Lepidosauria (tuatara, lizards, worm lizards and snakes). Karyotypes of these sauropsidan groups generally consist of macrochromosomes and microchromosomes. In chicken, microchromosomes exhibit a higher GC-content than macrochromosomes. To examine the pattern of intra-genomic GC heterogeneity in lepidosaurian genomes, we constructed a cytogenetic map of the Japanese four-striped rat snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata) with 183 cDNA clones by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and examined the correlation between the GC-content of exonic third codon positions (GC3) of the genes and the size of chromosomes on which the genes were localized. Results Although GC3 distribution of snake genes was relatively homogeneous compared with those of the other amniotes, microchromosomal genes showed significantly higher GC3 than macrochromosomal genes as in chicken. Our snake cytogenetic map also identified several conserved segments between the snake macrochromosomes and the chicken microchromosomes. Cross-species comparisons revealed that GC3 of most snake orthologs in such macrochromosomal segments were GC-poor (GC3 < 50%) whereas those of chicken orthologs in microchromosomes were relatively GC-rich (GC3 ≥ 50%). Conclusion Our results suggest that the chromosome size-dependent GC heterogeneity had already occurred before the lepidosaur-archosaur split, 275 million years ago. This character was probably present in the common ancestor of lepidosaurs and but lost in the lineage leading to Anolis during the diversification of lepidosaurs. We also identified several genes whose GC-content might have been influenced by the size of the chromosomes on which they were harbored over the course of sauropsid evolution.