Geographic variation in sex-chromosome differentiation in the common frog (Rana temporaria)

In sharp contrast with birds and mammals, sex-determination systems in ectothermic vertebrates are often highly dynamic and sometimes multifactorial. Both environmental and genetic effects have been documented in common frogs (Rana temporaria). One genetic linkage group, mapping to the largest pair of chromosomes and harboring the candidate sex-determining gene Dmrt1, associates with sex in several populations throughout Europe, but association varies both within and among populations. Here we show that sex association at this linkage group differs among populations along a 1500 km transect across Sweden. Genetic differentiation between sexes is strongest (FST = 0.152) in a northern-boreal population, where male-specific alleles and heterozygote excesses (FIS = -0.418 in males, +0.025 in females) testify to a male-heterogametic system and lack of X-Y recombination. In the southernmost population (nemoral climate), in contrast, sexes share the same alleles at the same frequencies (FST = ...