Decay of Sexual Trait Genes in an Asexual Parasitoid Wasp.

ABSTRACT: Trait loss is a widespread phenomenon with pervasive consequences for a species’ evolutionary potential. The genetic changes underlying trait loss have only been clarified in a small number of cases. None of these studies can identify whether the loss of the trait under study was a result of neutral mutation accumulation or negative selection. This distinction is relatively clear-cut in the loss of sexual traits in asexual organisms. Male-specific sexual traits are not expressed and can only decay through neutral mutations, whereas female-specific traits are expressed and subject to negative selection. We present the genome of an asexual parasitoid wasp and compare it to that of a sexual lineage of the same species. We identify a short-list of 16 genes for which the asexual lineage carries

SUBMITTER: Kraaijeveld K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5381511 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature