Original paper
Sexual dimorphism in the brown algae
Luthringer, R.; Cormier, A.; Ahmed, S.; Peters, A.F.; Cock, J.M.; Coelho, S.M.
Perspectives in Phycology Vol. 1 No. 1 (2014), p. 11 - 25
published: Jun 1, 2014
manuscript accepted: Mar 12, 2014
manuscript received: Nov 17, 2013
DOI: 10.1127/2198-011X/2014/0002
Open Access (paper may be downloaded free of charge)
Abstract
Abstract Sexual dimorphisms have been described in several groups of organisms, but while an important number of investigations have focused on animal and plant systems, much less is known about this phenomena in other eukaryotes. We review here the current knowledge on sexual dimorphisms in the brown algae, a group of multicellular eukaryotes that have been evolving separately from animals and plants for more than a billion years. We discuss the ecological implications of these sexual dimorphisms, describe recent studies aimed at understanding the molecular basis of sex-related differences, and highlight the advantages of the brown algae to study the evolution of sexual dimorphism in a broad evolutionary context.
Keywords
sex • seaweed • evolution • sex chromosomes • isogamy • anisogamy • gamete size