Haplotype divergence supports long-term asexuality in the oribatid mite Oppiella nova.

ABSTRACT: Sex strongly impacts genome evolution via recombination and segregation. In the absence of these processes, haplotypes within lineages of diploid organisms are predicted to accumulate mutations independently of each other and diverge over time. This so-called "Meselson effect" is regarded as a strong indicator of the long-term evolution under obligate asexuality. Here, we present genomic and transcriptomic data of three populations of the asexual oribatid mite species Oppiella nova and its sexual relative Oppiella subpectinata We document strikingly different patterns of haplotype divergence between the two species, strongly supporting Meselson effect-like evolution and long-term asexuality in O. nova: I) variation within individuals exceeds variation between populatio

SUBMITTER: Brandt A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8463897 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature