scholarly journals Reproductive Strategies of the Seagrass Zostera japonica Under Different Geographic Conditions in Northern China

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shidong Yue ◽  
Xiaomei Zhang ◽  
Shaochun Xu ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Peng Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Shoot Density ◽  
Zostera Japonica ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Density And Biomass

Seagrasses form a unique group of submerged marine angiosperms capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. The amounts of sexual and asexual reproduction differ within some species relying on geographic location and environmental factors. Here, we studied the reproductive strategies of different geographic Zostera japonica populations, S1 and S2 at Swan Lake lagoon (SLL), and H1 and H2 at Huiquan Bay (HQB), in northern China. The duration of flowering at SLL was longer than at HQB, whereas flowering initiation at HQB occurred earlier than at SLL. In addition, the timing of seed maturation at HQB occurred earlier than at SLL. The allocation to sexual reproduction at SLL was greater than at HQB. The maximum potential seed production was greatest at S1 (22228.52 ± 8832.46 seeds ⋅ m–2), followed by S2 (21630.34 ± 9378.67 seeds ⋅ m–2), H2 (7459.60 ± 1779.33 seeds ⋅ m–2), and H1 (2821.05 ± 1280.57 seeds ⋅ m–2). The seasonal changes in total shoot density and biomass were small at HQB. There was a relatively large number of overwintering shoots at HQB because of the higher average temperature during winter. The allocation to sexual reproduction was lower than at SLL, and no seedlings were observed at HQB during our study. Thus, the population of Z. japonica at HQB was maintained by asexual reproduction. Compared with HQB, the biomass of overwintering shoots at SLL was less than 30 g dry weight ⋅ m–2. The Z. japonica at SLL relied on asexual and sexual reproduction to maintain the population. The results show the necessity of understanding local reproductive strategies before starting restoration and management projects. The study provides fundamental information and guidance for the conservation and restoration of seagrass beds.

scholarly journals Investigation of evolutionary effects on the relative frequency of sexual reproduction in freshwater diatoms

Phytotaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIRGINIA M. CARD ◽  
MEEGEN CARRA
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Size Class ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Size Class Distribution ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction

There are substantial ecological and evolutionary costs to sexual reproduction and there is only a narrow range of conditions that favors the evolution of high rates of sexual reproduction in species that are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. Considering the evolutionary costs and benefits of sexual reproduction, it was hypothesized that the frequency of sexual reproduction relative to asexual reproduction in diatoms would be greater for attached pennates and lower for planktonic centrics. This was investigated by comparison of the size-class distributions of the attached pennate, Rhopalodia gibba (Ehrenberg) Müller 1895 and the planktonic centric Cyclotella meneghiniana Kützing 1844 collected from the littoral zone of Lake Phalen in St. Paul Minnesota, USA. Numerical combination of binomial functions was used to infer the number of significant occurrences of sexual reproduction contributing to the size-class distribution of each population, with the frequency of sexual reproduction relative to asexual reproduction inferred from the number of binomial curves contributing to the distribution. The size-class profile of C. meneghiniana was unimodal, dominated by a single peak at 12 µm, with additional contributing curves with peaks at 15 µm and 18 µm. The size-class profile of R. gibba was bimodal, dominated by peaks at 46 µm and 60 µm, with additional contributing curves with peaks at 36 µm, 73 µm, and 84 µm. The results of this investigation were robust with respect to difference between the species in sample size and number of size-classes, although the analysis method is sensitive to differences in the number of size-classes. The results supported the hypothesis, and demonstrate the principle that size-class analysis of diatom populations can be used to investigate evolutionary hypotheses about differences among taxa in the relative frequency of sexual and asexual reproduction.

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 The role of sexual versus asexual recruitment of <i>Artemisia wudanica</i> in transition zone habitats between inter-dune lowlands and active dunes in Inner Mongolia, China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcui Wang ◽  
Busso Carlos Alberto ◽  
Deming Jiang ◽  
Musa Ala ◽  
Xuehua Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Transition Zone ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract. Artemisia wudanica is an endemic, perennial, pioneering psammophyte species in the sand dune ecosystems of western Horqin Sand Land in northern China. However, no studies have addressed how sexual and asexual reproduction modes of A. wudanica perform at the transitional zones between active dune inter-dune lowlands and active dunes. In early spring, quadrats were randomly set up in the study area to monitor surviving seedling and/or ramet density and frequency coming from sexual/asexual reproduction of A. wudanica. Iron sticks were also inserted near each quadrat to determine wind erosion (WE) intensity. Additionally, soil samples were collected nearby each quadrat to test for soil moisture (SM) and organic matter (OM) contents, and pH, respectively. Surviving seedlings of A. wudanica showed an inverse response in comparison with ramets to SM, OM and WE. Soil moisture showed the most positive effect, and WE the negative effect, on surviving, sexual reproduction seedlings. Contrarily, WE had the most positive effect, and SM the negative effect, on asexual reproduction ramets. This suggests that increases in SM and decreases in WE should benefit recruitment of A. wudanica seedlings. On the contrary, ramets coming from asexual reproduction showed a different response to environmental factors in transition zone habitats. While SM was not a key constraint for the survival of seedlings, they showed a better, positive response to wind erosion environments. Overall, various study environmental parameters could be improved to foster A. wudanica invasion and settlement in the plant community through different reproductive modes, thereby promoting vegetation restoration and rehabilitation.

Reproduction of Cnidaria

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (10) ◽  
pp. 1735-1754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphne Gail Fautin
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Somatic Tissue ◽  
Class Level ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Reproductive Characters ◽  
Analytical Frameworks ◽  
Shed Light

Empirical and experimental data on cnidarian reproduction show it to be more variable than had been thought, and many patterns that had previously been deduced hold up poorly or not at all in light of additional data. The border between sexual and asexual reproduction appears to be faint. This may be due to analytical tools being insufficiently powerful to distinguish between the two, but it may be that a distinction between sexual and asexual reproduction is not very important biologically to cnidarians. Given the variety of modes by which it is now evident that asexual reproduction occurs, its ecological and evolutionary implications have probably been underestimated. Appropriate analytical frameworks and strategies must be developed for these morphologically simple animals, in which sexual reproduction may not be paramount, that during one lifetime may pass though two or more phases differing radically in morphology and ecology, that may hybridize, that are potentially extremely long-lived, and that may transmit through both sexual and asexual reproduction mutations arising in somatic tissue. In cnidarians, perhaps more than in any other phylum, reproductive attributes have been used to define taxa, but they do so at a variety of levels and not necessarily in the way they have conventionally been considered. At the species level, in Scleractinia, in which these features have been most studied, taxa defined on the basis of morphology, sexual reproduction, and molecular characters may not coincide; there are insufficient data to determine if this is true throughout the phylum. At the class level, transverse fission occurs in members of all three major taxa but is rare outside Scyphozoa, the group of which it is considered characteristic (pending more research, its absence in Cubozoa should be ascribed to poor knowledge). Understanding the role of transverse fission in the ecology and reproductive biology of hydrozoans and anthozoans could shed light on scyphozoan evolutionary history, and elucidating its morphogenesis in all groups is essential to determining if it is homologous across the classes. Only by comparing aspects of reproduction among cnidarians of various taxa will idiosyncratically adaptive strategies be distinguished from reproductive characters that reflect evolution and so are phylogenetically informative.

Ecological success of sexual and asexual reproductive strategies invading an environmentally unstable habitat

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willian T.A.F. Silva ◽  
Anna Nyqvist ◽  
Per R. Jonsson ◽  
Karin C. Harding
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Allee Effect ◽  
Quantitative Approach ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Habitat ◽  
Geographic Parthenogenesis ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction

AbstractMany aspects of sexual and asexual reproduction have been studied empirically and theoretically. The differences between sexual and asexual reproduction within a species often lead to a biased geographical distribution of individuals with different reproductive strategies. While sexuals are more abundant in the core habitat, asexuals are often found in marginal habitats along the edge of the species distribution. This pattern, called geographic parthenogenesis, has been observed in many species but the mechanisms reponsible for generating it are poorly known. We used a quantitative approach using a metapopulation model to explore the ecological processes that can lead to geographic parthenogenesis and the invasion of new habitats by different reproductive strategies. We analyzed the Allee effect on sexual populations and the population sensitivity to environmental stress during the invasion of a marginal, unstable habitat to demonstrate that a complex interaction between the Allee effect, sensitivity to environmental stress and the environmental conditions can determine the relative success of competing reproductive strategies during the initial invasion and longterm establishment in the marginal habitat. We discuss our results in the light of previous empirical and theoretical studies.Author SummaryIndividuals can reproduce with or without sex. Very often, closely related species are distributed in a such a way that the sexually reproducing species is most frequently found in the core habitat while the asexually reproducing species is found on the edge of the habitat range. This biased distribution of reproductive strategies across a habitat range is called geographic parthenogenesis and has been observed in several species. While many processes have been proposed to explain such a pattern, a quantitative approach of the ecological processes was absent. We investigated important differences between sexual and asexual reproduction and how these differences affect the success of sexuals and asexuals invading a marginal, unstable environment. We showed that the relative frequency of each reproductive strategy in the marginal habitat depends on how much sexuals rely on population density to reproduce and how much asexuals are affected by environmental stress relative to sexuals. Our study presents a quantitative ecological explanation for geographic parthenogenesis and provides the conditions under which different distribution patterns can emerge.

scholarly journals ASF1 activation PI3K/AKT pathway regulates sexual and asexual development in filamentous ascomycete

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Wang ◽  
Xiaoman Liu ◽  
Chenlin Xiong ◽  
Susu Gao ◽  
Wenmeng Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Akt Signaling ◽  
Asexual Development ◽  
Akt Signaling Pathway ◽  
Filamentous Ascomycete ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction

Sexual and asexual reproduction is ubiquitous in eukaryotes. PI3K/AKT signaling pathway can modulate sexual reproduction in mammals. However, this signaling pathway modulating sexual and asexual reproduction in fungi is scarcely understood. SeASF1, a SeH4 chaperone, could manipulate sexual and asexual reproduction of Stemphylium eturmiunum. SeDJ-1, screened from SeΔasf1 transcriptome, was confirmed to regulate sexual and asexual development by RNAi, of which the mechanism was demonstrated by detecting transcriptional levels and protein interactions of SeASF1, SeH4 and SeDJ-1 by qRT-PCR, and Y2H, Co-IP and Pull-down, respectively. SeASF1 coupling SeH4 bound SeDJ-1 to arouse the sexual and asexual activity. In S. eturmiunum genome, SeDJ-1 was upstream while SeGSK3 was downstream in PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Moreover, SeDJ-1 interacted with SePI3K or SeGSK3 in vivo and in vitro. Significantly, SeDJ-1 or SePI3K could effectively stimulate sexual activity alone, but SePI3K could recover the sexual development of SiSeDJ-1.SeDJ-1-M6 was a critical segment for interaction of SeDJ-1 with SePI3K. SeDJ-1-M6 played a critical role in irritating sexual reproduction in SiSePI3K, which further uncovered the regulated mechanism of SeDJ-1. SeASF1 coupling SeH4 motivates SeDJ-1 to arouse SePI3K involved in sexual reproduction. Thus, SeASF1 can activate PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to regulate sexual and asexual development in filamentous ascomycete.

scholarly journals Flood disturbance affects morphology and reproduction of woody riparian plants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Fischer ◽  
Joe Greet ◽  
Christopher Walsh ◽  
Jane Catford
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Riparian Forests ◽  
Flood Disturbance ◽  
Riparian Plants ◽  
Flood Regime ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction

Abstract Riparian forests are structured and maintained by their hydrology. Woody riparian plants typically adapt to the local flood regime to maximise their likelihood of survival and reproductive success. Understanding how extant trees form and reproduce in response to flood disturbance is crucial for predicting vegetation changes and informing restoration. Working in a temperate evergreen riparian forest, we aim to determine whether disturbance-based responses of plants found in other ecosystems also typify woody plants in riparian forests where disturbances are non-lethal, annual events. Using plant surveys and 20-year modelled hydrological data, we examined whether i) the morphology (main stem diameter, height, crown width, crown extent, stem leaning) and ii) reproduction type (sexual and asexual reproduction) and extent of three dominant woody species (Eucalyptus camphora, Leptospermum lanigerum and Melaleuca squarrosa) vary with flood regime (flood frequency and flood duration); and iii) whether different morphology is associated with different reproductive strategies. Increased flooding generally resulted in increased stem numbers and greater stem leaning – morphologies associated with asexual reproduction – of our study species. More frequent flooding also reduced plant size and sexual reproduction in E. camphora. Sexual reproduction in the studied species was more common in taller plants with single, more upright stems in good condition. Flexible morphology and plastic reproductive strategy may constitute an adaptation to mild or chronic disturbance in floodplains. Our findings suggest that woody plants respond to physical disturbance in consistent ways regardless of the nature of the disturbance – be it fires, hurricanes or floods.

scholarly journals The role of sexual vs. asexual recruitment of <i>Artemisia wudanica</i> in transition zone habitats between inter-dune lowlands and active dunes in Inner Mongolia, China

Solid Earth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 621-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcui Wang ◽  
Busso Carlos Alberto ◽  
Deming Jiang ◽  
Musa Ala ◽  
Xuehua Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Transition Zone ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract. Artemisia wudanica is an endemic, perennial, pioneering psammophyte species in the sand dune ecosystems of western Horqin Sand Land in northern China. However, no studies have addressed how sexual and asexual reproduction modes of A. wudanica perform at the transitional zones between active dune inter-dune lowlands and active dunes. In early spring, quadrats were randomly set up in the study area to monitor surviving seedling and/or ramet density and frequency coming from sexual/asexual reproduction of A. wudanica. Iron sticks were inserted near each quadrat to determine wind erosion intensity (WE). Additionally, soil samples were collected nearby each quadrat to test for soil moisture (SM), organic matter (OM) and pH. Surviving seedlings of A. wudanica showed an inverse response in comparison with ramets to SM, OM and WE. Soil moisture showed the most positive effect, and WE the negative effect, on surviving, sexual reproduction seedlings. Contrarily, WE had the most positive effect, and SM the negative effect, on asexual reproduction ramets. This suggests that increases in SM and decreases in WE should benefit recruitment of A. wudanica seedlings. On the contrary, ramets coming from asexual reproduction showed a different response to environmental factors in transition zone habitats. While SM was not a key constraint for the survival of seedlings, they showed a better, positive response to wind erosion environments. Overall, various study environmental parameters could be improved to foster A. wudanica invasion and settlement in the plant community through different reproductive modes, thereby promoting vegetation restoration and rehabilitation.

Interactions between population growth and sexual reproduction in the viviparous monogenean Gyrodactylus turnbulli Harris, 1986 from the guppy, Poecilia reticulata Peters

Parasitology ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.D. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Population Biology ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Seminal Receptacle ◽  
Potential Importance ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
First Time

SUMMARYMating was observed in populations of Gyrodactylus turnbulli from guppies. Copulation took place between older (post-1st birth) flukes and resulted in the insemination of spermatozoa into the seminal receptacle. New-born flukes, and flukes which had only recently given birth for the first time (in which the penis was absent or developing), were never inseminated. Flukes were promiscuous, copulating with several partners in succession. The occurrence of mating was related to the size, age and crowding of the G. turnbulli population, taking place most frequently when the parasites were most densely crowded upon the peduncle of the fish on days 5 and 6 of the infection. Maximum population size was positively correlated with the number of flukes initiating an infection. As a result, mating began earlier, and continued for longer in populations founded by several parasites rather than those begun by single flukes. These observations are discussed with respect to the population biology of G. turnbulli: it is likely that sexual and asexual reproduction alternate, with sex being important only during phases of epidemic population growth. The significance of sex in gyrodactylids is discussed, and the potential importance of continuous sexual reproduction in G. turnbulli infections on cultivated guppies is noted.

scholarly journals The frequency of sex in fungi

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1706) ◽  
pp. 20150540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart P. S. Nieuwenhuis ◽  
Timothy Y. James
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Mixed Mode ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Ancient Asexual ◽  
Sexual And Asexual Reproduction ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Huge Variation

Fungi are a diverse group of organisms with a huge variation in reproductive strategy. While almost all species can reproduce sexually, many reproduce asexually most of the time. When sexual reproduction does occur, large variation exists in the amount of in- and out-breeding. While budding yeast is expected to outcross only once every 10 000 generations, other fungi are obligate outcrossers with well-mixed panmictic populations. In this review, we give an overview of the costs and benefits of sexual and asexual reproduction in fungi, and the mechanisms that evolved in fungi to reduce the costs of either mode. The proximate molecular mechanisms potentiating outcrossing and meiosis appear to be present in nearly all fungi, making them of little use for predicting outcrossing rates, but also suggesting the absence of true ancient asexual lineages. We review how population genetic methods can be used to estimate the frequency of sex in fungi and provide empirical data that support a mixed mode of reproduction in many species with rare to frequent sex in between rounds of mitotic reproduction. Finally, we highlight how these estimates might be affected by the fungus-specific mechanisms that evolved to reduce the costs of sexual and asexual reproduction. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Weird sex: the underappreciated diversity of sexual reproduction’.

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