2012
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001317
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The Evolution of Sex Is Favoured During Adaptation to New Environments

Abstract: In experiments with a facultatively sexual rotifer, populations adapting to novel environments evolve higher rates of sex because sexual mixing quickly assembles well-adapted genotypes.

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Cited by 148 publications
(157 citation statements)
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References 59 publications
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“…(2016) found that a wild‐type C. elegans lineage capable of self‐fertilization rapidly invaded mutant obligate‐outcrossing populations over 33 generations of exposure to both avirulent and fixed parasite genotypes, but could not invade host populations that were passaged with potentially coevolving parasites. Similar results have also been found in the absence of parasites; populations of facultatively sexual rotifers produced more sexual offspring during the initial stages of adaptation to new environments, but asexual offspring were favored after the populations reached new fitness plateaus (Becks & Agrawal, 2012). Therefore, it seems highly unlikely that single episodes of environmental change can favor the long‐term maintenance of high levels of outcrossing in species that normally self‐fertilize or reproduce asexually.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 72%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…(2016) found that a wild‐type C. elegans lineage capable of self‐fertilization rapidly invaded mutant obligate‐outcrossing populations over 33 generations of exposure to both avirulent and fixed parasite genotypes, but could not invade host populations that were passaged with potentially coevolving parasites. Similar results have also been found in the absence of parasites; populations of facultatively sexual rotifers produced more sexual offspring during the initial stages of adaptation to new environments, but asexual offspring were favored after the populations reached new fitness plateaus (Becks & Agrawal, 2012). Therefore, it seems highly unlikely that single episodes of environmental change can favor the long‐term maintenance of high levels of outcrossing in species that normally self‐fertilize or reproduce asexually.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 72%
“…However, production of sexual offspring declined throughout the experiment in all treatments, suggesting that selective pressures in the experiment were insufficient to favor the long‐term maintenance of high levels of sex. Becks and Agrawal (2012) tracked rotifer populations adapting to new environments; immediately after the transitions, population densities declined while production of sexual offspring increased, and sexual offspring eventually exhibited higher fitness. However, as the transitioning populations reached new fitness plateaus, they began to resemble control populations, with stable population densities and fewer, less fit sexual offspring.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The long-term impacts of global environmental change on wildlife species will depend upon niche specificity, plasticity, and dispersal (70); dependence on environmental cues, ecological interactions (including sex-determining mechanisms), physiological tolerance, and adaptive capacity (71), each underpinned by genetic diversity (13,14). Sexual reproduction has the potential to promote genetic diversity in populations by accelerating the production of novel genotypes and limiting the accumulation of deleterious mutations (72)(73)(74)(75). However, these benefits will be limited in small populations, particularly those populations with imbalanced sex ratios.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In our opinion, this is remarkable because monogonont rotifers have at least four additional advantages, especially for experimental evolution work: (1) generation times in monogononts are much shorter than in cladocerans. As a result, population level trait responses to selection regimes will potentially be much faster in monogononts (assuming equal heritability levels); (2) Monogononts easily engage in sexual reproduction under experimental conditions and sexually produced diapausing eggs have been observed to hatch very quickly, i.e., within a few days (Becks & Agrawal, 2012;Martínez-Ruiz & García-Roger, 2015). This allows the recruitment of new genotypes within a short time span (Declerck et al, 2015).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This allows the recruitment of new genotypes within a short time span (Declerck et al, 2015). Although sexual recombination may initially slow down evolution in populations due to 'genetic slippage' (Lynch & Deng, 1994), it strongly increases genotypic diversity in experimental populations and as such broadens the genetic basis for selection to act on (Becks & Agrawal, 2012). As a result, short-term micro-evolutionary adaptation is not confined to clonal selection, but can additionally be fueled by sexual recombination.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%