Nejlepší studentský poster na konferenci v Berlíně

The sensitive window for sex determination in a lizard with environmental sex determination

Barbora Straková¹, Lukáš Kubička¹, Lukáš Kratochvíl¹

¹ Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague

Sex of an individual is a key characteristic affecting numerous traits of an organism. The mechanism of sex determination can influence adult sex ratios and other demographic parameters of a population and thus population dynamics. Majority of vertebrates have genotypic sex determination, when there is a consistent genetic difference between sexes. However, up-to-date all examined crocodilians, many turtles and some squamate reptiles possess environmental sex determination (ESD), where sex of a progeny depends on environmental factors. The adaptive significance of ESD is questionable and at the same time a dependency of sex ratio on an environmental factor, e.g. incubation temperature, might lead to vulnerability of a population to the contemporary climate change. The sensitive period of sex determination is an important trait, which was determined only in a small number of species. We introduce the project on determination of the sensitive period in the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius), a model ESD reptile.  The determination of the sensitive period will allow to further explore the proximate mechanisms of environmental sex determination in this squamate.