Sex in the wild: How and why field-based studies contribute to solving the problem of sex.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_D274D77D3191
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Sex in the wild: How and why field-based studies contribute to solving the problem of sex.
Journal
Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
Author(s)
Neiman M., Meirmans P.G., Schwander T., Meirmans S.
ISSN
1558-5646 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0014-3820
Publication state
Published
Issued date
06/2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
72
Number
6
Pages
1194-1203
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Review
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Why and how sexual reproduction is maintained in natural populations, the so-called "queen of problems," is a key unanswered question in evolutionary biology. Recent efforts to solve the problem of sex have often emphasized results generated from laboratory settings. Here, we use a survey of representative "sex in the wild" literature to review and synthesize the outcomes of empirical studies focused on natural populations. Especially notable results included relatively strong support for mechanisms involving niche differentiation and a near absence of attention to adaptive evolution. Support for a major role of parasites is largely confined to a single study system, and only three systems contribute most of the support for mutation accumulation hypotheses. This evidence for taxon specificity suggests that outcomes of particular studies should not be more broadly extrapolated without extreme caution. We conclude by suggesting steps forward, highlighting tests of niche differentiation mechanisms in both laboratory and nature, and empirical evaluation of adaptive evolution-focused hypotheses in the wild. We also emphasize the value of leveraging the growing body of genomic resources for nonmodel taxa to address whether the clearance of harmful mutations and spread of beneficial variants in natural populations proceeds as expected under various hypotheses for sex.
Keywords
Animals, Animals, Wild, Biological Evolution, Ecosystem, Parasitic Diseases, Animal/transmission, Sex Determination Processes, Sexual Behavior, Animal/physiology, Asexual reproduction, Muller's ratchet, Red Queen, niche differentiation, parthenogenesis, sexual reproduction
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
17/08/2018 20:35
Last modification date
28/09/2019 6:08
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