Is meiosis a fundamental cause of inviability among sexual and asexual plants and animals?

ABSTRACT: Differences in viability between asexually and sexually generated offspring strongly influence the selective advantage and therefore the prevalence of sexual reproduction (sex). However, no general principle predicts when sexual offspring will be more viable than asexual offspring. We hypothesize that when any kind of reproduction is based on a more complex cellular process, it will encompass more potential failure points, and therefore lower offspring viability. Asexual reproduction (asex) can be simpler than sex, when offspring are generated using only mitosis. However, when asex includes meiosis and meiotic restitution, gamete production is more complex than in sex. We test our hypothesis by comparing the viability of asexual and closely related sexual offspring across a wide range of p

SUBMITTER: Levitis DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5563809 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature