Lost Sex - The Evolutionary Biology of Parthenogenesis

Lost Sex: The Evolutionary Biology of Parthenogenesis
Schön, Isa; Martens, Koen; van Dijk, Peter (Eds.)
1st edition
615 pages
ISBN-13: 978-9400779969
ISBN-10: 9400779968

Sex is the queen of problems in evolutionary biology. Generations of researchers have investigated one of the last remaining evolutionary paradoxes: why sex exists at all. Given that sexual reproduction is costly from an evolutionary point of view, one could wonder why not all animals and plants reproduce asexually. Dozens of contemporary hypotheses attempt to explain the prevalence of sex and its advantages and predict the early extinction of fully asexual lineages.
The major theme of this book is: what is the fate of animal and plant groups in which sex is lost? Initial chapters discuss theory behind asexual life: what major disadvantages do asexual groups have to face, what are the genetic and ecological consequences and what does this theory predict for more applied aspects of asexual life, for example in agricultural pests, diseases as well as in cultural crops such as grapes. Cases studies in many animals (focusing on both invertebrates and vertebrates) and plants reveal parallel, but also singularly novel adaptations to the absence of meiosis and syngamy. And last but not least, are asexuals really doomed to early extinction or do genuine ancient asexuals exist?
This book assembles contributions from the most important research groups dealing with asexual evolution in eukaryotes. It is a milestone in research on parthenogenesis and will be useful to undergraduate as well as graduate students and to senior researchers in all fields of evolutionary biology, as the paradox of sex remains its queen of problems.



Table of Contents

1 Asex and Evolution: A Very Large-Scale Overview
2 The Evolution o fthe Problem of Sex
3 Apomixis: Basics for Non-botanists
4 Cytology of Asexual Animals
5 A Graphical Approach to Lineage Selection Between Clonals and Sexuals
6 Geographical Parthenogenesis: General Purpose Genotypes and Frozen Niche Variation
7 Sex and the Red Queen
8 Geographical Parthenogenesis: Opportunities for Asexuality
9 The Elusive Clone – In Search of Its True Nature and Identity
10 Asexual Speciation
11 Darwinulid Ostracods: Ancient Asexual Scandals or Scandalous Gossip?
12 Parthenogenesis in Oribatid Mites (Acari, Oribatida): Evolution Without Sex
13 Bdelloid Rotifers: Progress in Understanding the Success of an Evolutionary Scandal
14 Sex Loss in Monogonont Rotifers
15 Cyclical Parthenogenesis in Daphnia: Sexual Versus Asexual Reproduction
16 Metasexual Stick Insects: Model Pathways to Losing Sex and Bringing It Back
17 Thelytoky in Hymenoptera with Venturia canescens and Leptopilina clavipes as Case Studies
18 Sex in Parthenogenetic Planarians: Phylogenetic Relic or Evolutionary Resurrection?
19 Sperm-Dependent Parthenogenesis and Hybridogenesis in Teleost Fishes
20 Masked Damage: Mutational Load in Hemiclonal Water Frogs
21 Lost Sex in the Reptiles: Constraints and Correlations
22 An Apomixis-Gene’s View on Dandelions
23 Allelic Sequence Divergence in the Apomictic Boechera holboellii Complex
24 Asexual Reproduction in Infectious Diseases
25 What’s in a Clone: The Rapid Evolution of Aphid Asexual Lineages in Relation to Geography, Host Plant Adaptation and Resistance to Pesticides
26 Epigenetic Mechanisms in Mammals and Their Effects on Cloning Procedures
27 Grapevine (Vitis ssp.): Example of Clonal Reproduction in Agricultural Important Plants
Index