Disentangling the benefits of sex

Understanding the evolutionary advantage of sexual reproduction remains one of the most fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. Most of the current hypotheses rely on the fact that sex increases genetic variation, thereby enhancing the efficiency of natural selection; an important body of the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPLoS biology Vol. 10; no. 5; p. e1001321
Main Author Roze, Denis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 01.05.2012
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Adaptation, Physiological
Alleles
Animals
Biological Evolution
Biology
Costs
Environment
Evolution
Evolutionary biology
Females
Genetic Fitness
Genetic Variation
Genetics
Genomes
Heterozygote
Hypotheses
Mathematical models
Mutation
Population
Population Density
Primer
Reproduction
Rotifera - physiology
Selection, Genetic
Sex
Adaptation, Physiological
Selection, Genetic
Sex
Biological Evolution
Genetic Variation
Reproduction
Animals
Genetic Fitness
Population Density
Alleles
Environment
Heterozygote
Rotifera
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Understanding the evolutionary advantage of sexual reproduction remains one of the most fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. Most of the current hypotheses rely on the fact that sex increases genetic variation, thereby enhancing the efficiency of natural selection; an important body of theoretical work has defined the conditions under which sex can be favoured through this effect. Over the last decade, experimental evolution in model organisms has provided evidence that sex indeed allows faster rates of adaptation. A new study on facultatively sexual rotifers shows that increased rates of sex can be favoured during adaptation to new environmental conditions and explores the cause of this effect. The results provide support for the idea that the benefits of increasing genetic variation may compensate for the short-term costs of sexual reproduction.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Primers provide a concise introduction into an important aspect of biology highlighted by a current PLoS Biology research article.
ISSN:1545-7885
1544-9173
1545-7885
DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001321