Independent effects of incubation temperature and gonadal sex on the volume and metabolic capacity of brain nuclei in the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius), a lizard with temperature-dependent sex determination.

Abstract

The extent to which variation within and between the sexes can be assigned to genes vs. environment is problematic, because, in most vertebrates, males and females differ genetically. However, factors other than sex chromosomes and the consequent sex-typical gonadal hormone secretions may play important roles in the differentiation of the neural mechanisms underlying individual and sex differences in aggressive and sexual behavior. The leopard gecko, like many oviparous reptiles, lacks sex chromosomes. Instead, gonadal sex is determined by temperature during embryogenesis, with low and high incubation temperatures producing females and intermediate temperatures producing mixed sex ratios. In essence, this allows for the study of individual and sex differences without the confounding variable of genetically determined gender. Experiments have shown that the temperature experienced during incubation plays a critical role in establishing the adult morphological, endocrinological, and behavioral phenotype. In this experiment, the independent effects of incubation temperature and gonadal sex on the morphology and metabolic capacity of specific brain nuclei were determined. Both individual and sex differences in the volume of the preoptic area and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus are determined primarily by incubation temperature, not by gonadal sex. However, incubation temperature and gonadal sex are both important in determining the metabolic capacity in the anterior hypothalamus, external amygdala, dorsal lateral nucleus of the hypothalamus, dorsal lateral nucleus of the thalamus, dorsal ventricular ridge, habenula, lateral hypothalamus, nucleus rotundus, nucleus sphericus, periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, preoptic area, periventricular nucleus of the preoptic area, septum, striatum, torus semicircularis, and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. This is the first demonstration in a vertebrate that factors other than gonadal sex hormones, which arise from the individual's genetic constitution, can affect the sexual differentiation of the brain.