Sex in Dragons: Probing the genotype-phenotype interaction of sex determination

Reptiles have two modes of sex determination: genetic (GSD) and temperature dependent (TSD). We will determine if there is any underlying mechanism of sex determination common to TSD and GSD reptiles by comparing the genomes of two sister species of dragon lizard that differ in their mode of sex determination. This study will provide new insights to the mechanism of sex determination in vertebrates and will test the proposition that sex determination results fromthe interaction between environmental influences and an underlying genetic component.