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15 results for “facultative parthenogenesis”
Does ecology shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic stick insect Megacrania batesii
<p>Closely related sexual and parthenogenetic species often show distinct distribution patterns, known as geographical parthenogenesis. These patterns, characterized by a mosaic of separate sexual and parthenogenetic populations across their natural range, can also be found in facultative parthenogens – species in which every female is capable of both sexual and parthenogenetic reproduction. The underlying mechanisms driving this phenomenon in nature remain unclear. Features of the habitat, such as differences in host plant phenotypes or niche breadth, could favour sexual or asexual reproductive modes and thus help to explain geographical parthenogenesis in natural insect populations. <em>Megacrania batesii</em> is a facultatively parthenogenetic stick insect that displays geographical parthenogenesis in the wild. We aimed to explore whether sexual and parthenogenetic populations of <em>M. batesii</em> displayed niche differentiation or variations in niche breadth that could explain the separation of the two population types. To do this, we sampled host plants from across the range of <em>M. batesii</em> and quantified phenotypic traits that might affect palatability or accessibility for <em>M. batesii</em>, including leaf thickness, toughness, spike size and density, height, and chemical composition. We also quantified host plant density, which could affect <em>M. batesii</em> dispersal. We found little evidence of phenotypic differences between host plants supporting sexual versus asexual <em>M. batesii</em> populations, and no difference in host-plant density or niche breadth between the two population types. Our results suggest that habitat parameters do not play a substantial role in shaping patterns of geographical parthenogenesis in wild populations of <em>M. batesii</em>. Instead, population sex ratio variation could result from interactions between the sexes or dispersal dynamics.</p>
Data from: What ecological factors favor parthenogenesis over sexual reproduction? A study on the facultatively parthenogenetic mayfly Alainites muticus in natural populations
<p>Different reproductive modes are characterized by costs and benefits which depend on ecological contexts. For example, sex can provide benefits under complex biotic interactions, while its costs increase under mate limitation. Furthermore, ecological contexts often vary along abiotic gradients. Here, we study how these factors simultaneously influence the frequency of sex in the facultatively parthenogenetic mayfly Alainites muticus . We first verified that parthenogenesis translates into female-biased population sex ratios. We then measured the density of individuals (a proxy for mate limitation) and community diversity (biotic interaction complexity) for 159 A. muticus populations covering a broad altitudinal gradient and used structural equation modeling to investigate their direct and indirect influences on sex ratios. We found no effect of community diversity or altitude on sex ratios. Furthermore, even when females can reproduce parthenogenetically, they generally reproduce sexually, indicating that the benefits of sex exceed its costs in most situations. Sex ratios only become female-biased under low population densities, as expected if mate limitation was the main factor selecting for parthenogenesis. Mate limitation might be widespread in mayflies because of their short adult lifespan and limited dispersal, which can generate strong selection for reproductive assurance and may provide a stepping-stone towards obligate parthenogenesis.</p>
Discovery of facultative parthenogenesis in a New World crocodile
<p>Over the past two decades, there has been an astounding growth in the documentation of vertebrate facultative parthenogenesis (FP). This unusual reproductive mode has been documented in birds, non-avian reptiles—specifically lizards and snakes—, and elasmobranch fishes. Part of this growth among vertebrate taxa is attributable to awareness of the phenomenon itself and advances in molecular genetics/genomics and bioinformatics, and as such our understanding has developed considerably. Nonetheless, questions remain as to its occurrence outside of these vertebrate lineages, most notably in Chelonia (turtles) and Crocodylia (crocodiles, alligators, and gharials). The latter group is particularly interesting because unlike all previously documented cases of FP in vertebrates, crocodilians lack sex chromosomes and sex determination is controlled by temperature. Here, using whole-genome sequencing data, we provide the first evidence of FP in a crocodilian, the American Crocodile, <em>Crocodylus acutus</em>. The data support terminal fusion automixis as the reproductive mechanism; a finding which suggests a common evolutionary origin of FP across reptiles, crocodilians, and birds. With FP now documented in the two main branches of extant archosaurs, this discovery offers tantalizing insights into the possible reproductive capabilities of the extinct archosaurian relatives of crocodilians and birds, notably members of Pterosauria and Dinosauria.</p>
Discovery of facultative parthenogenesis in a New World crocodile
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Does ecology shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic stick insect Megacrania batesii
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Data from: What ecological factors favor parthenogenesis over sexual reproduction? A study on the facultatively parthenogenetic mayfly Alainites muticus in natural populations
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Data from: Could adult or juvenile dispersal shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic phasmid Megacrania batesii
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Data from: Facultative use of thelytokous parthenogenesis for queen production in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor
The evolutionary paradox of sex remains one of the major debates in evolutionary biology. The study of species capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction can elucidate factors important in the evolution of sex. One such species is the ant Cataglyphis cursor, where the queen maximises the transmission of her genes by producing new queens (gynes) asexually while simultaneously maintaining a genetically diverse workforce via the sexual production of workers. We show that the queen can also produce gynes sexually, and may do so to offset the costs of asexual reproduction. We genotyped 235 gynes from 18 colonies, and found that half were sexually produced. A few colonies contained both sexually and asexually produced gynes. While workers in this species can also use thelytoky, we found no evidence of worker production of gynes based on genotypes of 471 workers from the six colonies producing sexual gynes. Gynes are thus mainly, and potentially exclusively, produced by the queen. Simulations of gynes inbreeding level following one to ten generations of automictic thelytoky suggest that the queen switches between or combines thelytoky and sex, which may reduce the costs of inbreeding. This is supported by the relatively small size of inbred gynes in one colony, though we found no relationship between the level of inbreeding and immune parameters. Such facultative use of sex and thelytoky by individual queens contrasts with other known forms of parthenogenesis in ants, which are typically characterised by distinct lineages specialising in one strategy or the other.
Data from: Sex at the margins: parthenogenesis vs. facultative and obligate sex in a Neotropical ant
Geographic parthenogenesis is a distribution pattern, in which parthenogenetic populations tend to live in marginal habitats, at higher latitudes and altitudes and island-like habitats compared with the sexual forms. The facultatively parthenogenetic ant Platythyrea punctata is thought to exhibit this general pattern throughout its wide range in Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Workers of P. punctata from the Caribbean produce diploid female offspring from unfertilized eggs by thelytokous parthenogenesis, and mated females and males are rare. In contrast, workers in one colony from Costa Rica were incapable of thelytoky; instead mated workers produced all female offspring. Because sample sizes were very low in former studies, we here use microsatellite markers and explicit tests of thelytoky to examine the population genetic structure of ancestral and derived populations of P. punctata throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Populations from the Caribbean islands were fully capable of parthenogenesis and population genetic signatures indicate that this is the predominant mode of reproduction, although males are occasionally produced. In contrast, the northernmost population on the mainland (Texas) showed signatures of sexual reproduction and individuals were incapable of reproduction by thelytoky. Contrary to expectations from a geographic parthenogenesis distribution pattern, most parts of the mainland populations were found to be facultatively thelytokous, with population genetic signatures of both sexual and parthenogenetic reproduction.
Data from: Facultative parthenogenesis in a critically endangered wild vertebrate
Facultative parthenogenesis — the ability of sexually reproducing species to sometimes produce offspring asexually — is known from a wide range of ordinarily sexually reproducing vertebrates in captivity, including some birds, reptiles and sharks 1, 2 and 3. Despite this, free-living parthenogens have never been observed in any of these taxa in the wild, although two free-living snakes were recently discovered each gestating a single parthenogen — one copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and one cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Vertebrate parthenogens are characterized as being of the homogametic sex (e.g., females in sharks, males in birds) and by having elevated homozygosity compared to their mother 1, 2 and 3, which may reduce their viability. Although it is unknown if either of the parthenogenetic snakes would have been carried to term or survived in the wild, facultative parthenogenesis might have adaptive significance. If this is true, it is reasonable to hypothesize that parthenogenesis would be found most often at low population density, when females risk reproductive failure because finding mates is difficult. Here, we document the first examples of viable parthenogens living in a normally sexually reproducing wild vertebrate, the smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata). We also provide a simple approach to screen any microsatellite DNA database for parthenogens, which will enable hypothesis-driven research on the significance of vertebrate parthenogenesis in the wild.
Virgin Birth: A genetic basis for facultative parthenogenesis in Drosophila - genome assemblies
<p>Drosophila mercatorum genome assemblies used in https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.13.484157.</p> <p>The wildtype assembly is non-parthenogenic, while the "partho" assembly is parthenogenic.</p> <p>Assembly process is described here: https://github.com/ekg/drosophila.</p>
Data from: Facultative use of thelytokous parthenogenesis for queen production in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor
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Data from: Facultative parthenogenesis in a critically endangered wild vertebrate
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Data from: Sex at the margins: parthenogenesis vs. facultative and obligate sex in a Neotropical ant
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Data from: Molecular evidence for the first records of facultative parthenogenesis in elapid snakes.
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