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Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 1999 Dec 22;266(1437):2471–2477. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1999.0948

An uncoupling of male and sexual egg production leads to reduced inbreeding in the cyclical parthenogen Daphnia

De Meester L 1, J Vanoverbeke 1
PMCID: PMC1690476  PMID: 10693817

Abstract

Cyclical parthenogenesis involves an alternation of parthenogenetic and sexual reproduction. In cyclical parthenogens with a short generation time, seasonal succession of clones switching to sexual reproduction at different periods of the growing season entails the risk of severe inbreeding with associated fitness costs. We show, however, that differences in genotype frequencies between males and sexual females result in a substantial reduction in the probability of selfing in natural Daphnia populations. This suggests that responses to male- and sexual egg-inducing stimuli may be uncoupled at the level of individual clones as a mechanism to avoid severe inbreeding.

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Selected References

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