Figures
A male and female of the African cichlids Lithochromis rubripinnis and their karyotypes.
Lithochromis rubripinnis is one species of Lake Victoria cichlids. Lake Victoria cichlids are a well-known model system for the study of speciation. Although the evolution of the sex-determination system may drive speciation, sex determination is not well-analyzed in the cichlids. In this issue of PLoS Genetics, Yoshida et al. report that L. rubripinnis have a unique sex-determination system. In this species, B chromosomes have a function in sex determination. B chromosomes are additional chromosomes known as selfish genetic elements. The image shows that the female karyotype includes two B chromosomes, while the male has none.
Image Credit: Kohta Yoshida (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Citation: (2011) PLoS Genetics Issue Image | Vol. 7(8) August 2011. PLoS Genet 7(8): ev07.i08. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pgen.v07.i08
Published: August 25, 2011
Copyright: © 2011 Yoshida. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Lithochromis rubripinnis is one species of Lake Victoria cichlids. Lake Victoria cichlids are a well-known model system for the study of speciation. Although the evolution of the sex-determination system may drive speciation, sex determination is not well-analyzed in the cichlids. In this issue of PLoS Genetics, Yoshida et al. report that L. rubripinnis have a unique sex-determination system. In this species, B chromosomes have a function in sex determination. B chromosomes are additional chromosomes known as selfish genetic elements. The image shows that the female karyotype includes two B chromosomes, while the male has none.
Image Credit: Kohta Yoshida (Tokyo Institute of Technology)