Data from: The evolution of sex chromosomes in organisms with separate haploid sexes

In a second step, we test how prone non-recombining regions are to degeneration due to accumulation of deleterious mutations. Our modeling predicts that the decay of recombination on the sex chromosomes and the addition of strata via fusions will be just as much a part of the evolution of haploid sex chromosomes as in diploid sex chromosome systems. Reduced recombination is broadly favored, as long as there is some fitness difference between haploid males and females.

The degeneration of the sex-determining region due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations is expected to be slower in haploid organisms because of the absence of masking. Nevertheless, balancing selection often drives greater differentiation between the U/V sex chromosomes than in X/Y and Z/W systems. We summarize empirical evidence for haploid sex chromosome evolution and discuss our predictions in light of these findings.

Usage notes

Supplementary Mathematica file_Immler&Otto Mathematica file containing full models and approximations referred to in the manuscript. RecModifierUV_6Dec2014.nb