Coevolutionary interactions with parasites constrain the spread of self-fertilization into outcrossing host populations.

ABSTRACT: Given the cost of sex, outcrossing populations should be susceptible to invasion and replacement by self-fertilization or parthenogenesis. However, biparental sex is common in nature, suggesting that cross-fertilization has substantial short-term benefits. The Red Queen hypothesis (RQH) suggests that coevolution with parasites can generate persistent selection favoring both recombination and outcrossing in host populations. We tested the prediction that coevolving parasites can constrain the spread of self-fertilization relative to outcrossing. We introduced wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites, capable of both self-fertilization, and outcrossing, into C. elegans populations that were fixed for a mutant allele conferring obligate outcrossing. Replicate C. elegans populations wer

SUBMITTER: Slowinski SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5088054 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature