Parallel loss of sexual reproduction in field populations of a brown alga sheds light on the mechanisms underlying the emergence of asexuality.

ABSTRACT: Sexual reproduction is widespread, but asexual lineages have repeatedly arisen from sexual ancestors across a wide range of eukaryotic taxa. The molecular changes underpinning the switch to asexuality remain elusive, particularly in organisms with haploid sexual systems. Here we explore independent events of loss of sex in the brown alga Scytosiphon, examine the proximate and evolutionary mechanisms involved, and test the importance of sexual conflict on gene expression changes following loss of sex. We find that asexual females ('Amazons') lose ability to produce sex pheromone and, consequently, are incapable of attracting males, whereas they gain rapid parthenogenic development from large, unfertilized eggs. These phenotypic changes are accompanied by convergent changes in gene expressio

SUBMITTER: Hoshino M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11461277 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature