Transitions to asexuality and evolution of gene expression in Artemia brine shrimp.

ABSTRACT: While sexual reproduction is widespread among many taxa, asexual lineages have repeatedly evolved from sexual ancestors. Despite extensive research on the evolution of sex, it is still unclear whether this switch represents a major transition requiring major molecular reorganization, and how convergent the changes involved are. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic relationship and patterns of gene expression of sexual and asexual lineages of Eurasian Artemia brine shrimp, to assess how gene expression patterns are affected by the transition to asexuality. We find only a few genes that are consistently associated with the evolution of asexuality, suggesting that this shift may not require an extensive overhauling of the meiotic machinery. While genes with sex-biased expres

SUBMITTER: Huylmans AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8456138 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature