scholarly journals Asexual reproduction drives the reduction of transposable element load

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Bast ◽  
Kamil S. Jaron ◽  
Donovan Schuseil ◽  
Denis Roze ◽  
Tanja Schwander
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Load Reduction ◽  
Over Time

AbstractTheory predicts that sexual reproduction can both facilitate and restrain transposable element (TE) accumulation by providing TEs with a means of spreading to all individuals in a population and facilitating TE load reduction via purifying selection. By quantifying genomic TE loads over time in experimental sexual and asexual Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations, we provide direct evidence that asexual reproduction drives a reduction of TE loads. We show, using simulations, that this reduction occurs via evolution of TE activity, most likely via increased excision rates. Thus, sex is a major driver of genomic TE loads and at the root of the success of TEs.

scholarly journals Asexual reproduction reduces transposable element load in experimental yeast populations

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Bast ◽  
Kamil S Jaron ◽  
Donovan Schuseil ◽  
Denis Roze ◽  
Tanja Schwander
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Load Reduction ◽  
Over Time

Theory predicts that sexual reproduction can either facilitate or restrain transposable element (TE) accumulation by providing TEs with a means of spreading to all individuals in a population, versus facilitating TE load reduction via purifying selection. By quantifying genomic TE loads over time in experimental sexual and asexual Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations, we provide direct evidence that TE loads decrease rapidly under asexual reproduction. We show, using simulations, that this reduction may occur via evolution of TE activity, most likely via increased excision rates. Thus, sex is a major driver of genomic TE loads and at the root of the success of TEs.

scholarly journals Ant queens adjust egg fertilization to benefit from both sexual and asexual reproduction

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Aron ◽  
I. Timmermans ◽  
M. Pearcy
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Mating Period ◽  
Cataglyphis Cursor ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Over Time

An enduring problem in evolutionary biology is the near ubiquity of sexual reproduction despite the inherent cost of transmitting only half the parent's genes to progeny. Queens of some ant species circumvent this cost by using selectively both sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis: workers arise from fertilized eggs, while new queens are produced by parthenogenesis. We show that queens of the ant Cataglyphis cursor maximize the transmission rate of their genes by regulating the proportion of fertilized and parthenogenetic eggs laid over time. Parthenogenetic offspring are produced in early spring, when workers raise the brood into sexuals. After the mating period, queens lay mostly fertilized eggs that will be reared as the non-reproductive caste.

scholarly journals Asexual freshwater snails make poor mate choice decisions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydney Stork ◽  
Joseph Jalinsky ◽  
Maurine Neiman
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Freshwater Snail ◽  
Freshwater Snails ◽  
Choice Assay ◽  
Mating Choice ◽  
Related Trait ◽  
Over Time

Once-useful traits that no longer contribute to fitness tend to decay over time. We address whether the expression of mating-related traits that increase the fitness of sexually reproducing individuals but are likely less useful or even costly to asexual counterparts seems to exhibit decay in the latter. Potamopyrgus antipodarum is a New Zealand freshwater snail characterized by repeated transitions from sexual to asexual reproduction. The frequent coexistence of sexual and asexual lineages makes P. antipodarum an excellent model for the study of mating-related trait loss. We used a mating choice assay including sexual and asexual P. antipodarum females and conspecific (presumed better choice) vs. heterospecific (presumed worse choice) males to evaluate the loss of behavioural traits related to sexual reproduction. We found that sexual females engaged in mating behaviours with conspecific mating partners more frequently and for a greater duration than with heterospecific mating partners, while asexual females seemed to lack the ability to make a choice. These results suggest that selection acting to maintain mate choice in asexual P. antipodarum is weak or ineffective relative to sexual females and that asexual reproduction likely contributes to the evolutionary decay of behavioural traits in this system.

Molecular basis of adaptive evolution of sperm motility involved in in vivo fertilization of terrestrial animals

Impact ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (6) ◽  
pp. 73-75
Author(s):  
Akihiko Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Sperm Motility ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Sperm Morphology ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
The Face ◽  
Genetic Profiles

One of the unifying traits of life on this planet is reproduction, or life's ability to make copies of itself. The mode of reproduction has evolved over time, having almost certainly begun with simple asexual reproduction when the ancestral single celled organism divided into two. Since these beginnings' life has tried out numerous strategies, and perhaps one of the most important and successful has been sexual reproduction. This form of reproduction relies on the union of gametes, otherwise known as sperm and egg. Evolutionarily, sexual reproduction allows for greater adaptive potential because the genes of two unique individuals have a chance to recombine and mix in order to produce a new individual. Unlike asexual reproduction which produces genetically-identical clones of the parent individual, sex produces offspring with novel genes and combinations of genes. Therefore, in the face of new selective pressures there is a higher chance that one of these novel genetic profiles will produce an adaptation that is advantageous in the new circumstances. Dr Akihiko Watanabe is a reproductive biologist based in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Yamagata University in Japan, he is currently working on three research projects; a comparative study on the signalling pathways for inducing sperm motility and acrosome reaction in amphibians, the mechanism behind the adaptive modification of sperm morphology and motility, and the origin of sperm motility initiating substance (SMIS).

scholarly journals The Advantages of Segregation and the Evolution of Sex

Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 164 (3) ◽  
pp. 1099-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P Otto
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Evolution Of Sex ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Selection Regime ◽  
Strong Selection ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Low Levels

AbstractIn diploids, sexual reproduction promotes both the segregation of alleles at the same locus and the recombination of alleles at different loci. This article is the first to investigate the possibility that sex might have evolved and been maintained to promote segregation, using a model that incorporates both a general selection regime and modifier alleles that alter an individual’s allocation to sexual vs. asexual reproduction. The fate of different modifier alleles was found to depend strongly on the strength of selection at fitness loci and on the presence of inbreeding among individuals undergoing sexual reproduction. When selection is weak and mating occurs randomly among sexually produced gametes, reductions in the occurrence of sex are favored, but the genome-wide strength of selection is extremely small. In contrast, when selection is weak and some inbreeding occurs among gametes, increased allocation to sexual reproduction is expected as long as deleterious mutations are partially recessive and/or beneficial mutations are partially dominant. Under strong selection, the conditions under which increased allocation to sex evolves are reversed. Because deleterious mutations are typically considered to be partially recessive and weakly selected and because most populations exhibit some degree of inbreeding, this model predicts that higher frequencies of sex would evolve and be maintained as a consequence of the effects of segregation. Even with low levels of inbreeding, selection is stronger on a modifier that promotes segregation than on a modifier that promotes recombination, suggesting that the benefits of segregation are more likely than the benefits of recombination to have driven the evolution of sexual reproduction in diploids.

scholarly journals Influence of breeding strategy on genetic diversity of individuals

2021 ◽  
pp. 1168-1174
Author(s):  
A.A. Poroshina ◽  
◽  
D.Yu. Sherbakov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Molecular Evolution ◽  
Microsatellite Markers ◽  
Simulation Model ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Reproductive Strategy ◽  
Breeding Strategy ◽  
Computer Simulation Model

Abstract. Using a computer simulation model, we tried to investigate how the transition from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction will affect the population of diploid organisms with a neutral character of molecular evolution. At the same time, special attention was paid to the specificity of microsatellite markers. In this paper, we develop fast and inexpensive methods for assessing the changes in populations that occur with a change in reproductive strategy.

scholarly journals Conserved noncoding elements influence the transposable element landscape in Drosophila

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manee M. Manee ◽  
John Jackson ◽  
Casey M. Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Element ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Noncoding Dna ◽  
Frequency Spectra ◽  
Noncoding Regions ◽  
Selective Constraints ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Random Expectation ◽  
Conserved Noncoding Elements

AbstractHighly conserved noncoding elements (CNEs) comprise a significant proportion of the genomes of multicellular eukaryotes. The function of most CNEs remains elusive, but growing evidence indicates they are under some form of purifying selection. Noncoding regions in many species also harbor large numbers of transposable element (TE) insertions, which are typically lineage specific and depleted in exons because of their deleterious effects on gene function or expression. However, it is currently unknown whether the landscape of TE insertions in noncoding regions is random or influenced by purifying selection on CNEs. Here we combine comparative and population genomic data in Drosophila melanogaster to show that abundance of TE insertions in intronic and intergenic CNEs is reduced relative to random expectation, supporting the idea that selective constraints on CNEs eliminate a proportion of TE insertions in noncoding regions. However, we find no difference in the allele frequency spectra for polymorphic TE insertions in CNEs versus those in unconstrained spacer regions, suggesting that the distribution of fitness effects acting on observable TE insertions is similar across different functional compartments in noncoding DNA. Our results provide evidence that selective constraints on CNEs contribute to shaping the landscape of TE insertion in eukaryotic genomes, and provide further evidence supporting the conclusion that CNEs are indeed functionally constrained and not simply mutational cold spots.

scholarly journals Physical evidence for a Saccharomyces cerevisiae transposable element which carries the his4C gene.

1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
F de Bruijn ◽  
H Greer
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transposable Element ◽  
Structural Gene ◽  
Deoxyribonucleic Acid ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Precise Excision ◽  
Mutator Activity ◽  
New Location

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae transposable element which carries the his4C structural gene and which is capable of transposition, excision, and mutator activity is described. Physical evidence is presented for transposition of the his4C deoxyribonucleic acid sequences to a new location in the genome and for precise excision of these transposed deoxyribonucleic acid sequences in spontaneous his4C- segregants.

Direct evidence of sexual reproduction in the zebra coral,Oulastrea crispata(Anthozoa, Scleractinia), in Japan

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuna Zayasu ◽  
Katsumi Miyazaki ◽  
Yi-Ting Lien ◽  
Nami Okubo
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Direct Evidence
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