Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

All Eukaryotes Are Sexual, unless Proven Otherwise: Many So-Called Asexuals Present Meiotic Machinery and Might Be Able to Have Sex

Full text
Author(s):
Hofstatter, Paulo G. [1] ; Lahr, Daniel J. G. [1]
Total Authors: 2
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Rua Matao, Travessa 14, 101, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 1
Document type: Journal article
Source: BIOESSAYS; v. 41, n. 6 JUN 2019.
Web of Science Citations: 3
Abstract

Here a wide distribution of meiotic machinery is shown, indicating the occurrence of sexual processes in all major eukaryotic groups, without exceptions, including the putative asexuals. Meiotic machinery has evolved from archaeal DNA repair machinery by means of ancestral gene duplications. Sex is very conserved and widespread in eukaryotes, even though its evolutionary importance is still a matter of debate. The main processes in sex are plasmogamy, followed by karyogamy and meiosis. Meiosis is fundamentally a chromosomal process, which implies recombination and ploidy reduction. Several eukaryotic lineages are proposed to be asexual because their sexual processes are never observed, but presumed asexuality correlates with lack of study. The authors stress the complete lack of meiotic proteins in nucleomorphs and their almost complete loss in the fungus Malassezia. Inversely, complete sets of meiotic proteins are present in fungal groups Glomeromycotina, Trichophyton, and Cryptococcus. Endosymbiont Perkinsela and endoparasitic Microsporidia also present meiotic proteins. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 15/06306-0 - Evolution of meiosis and sex in Amoebozoa
Grantee:Paulo Gonzalez Hofstatter
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
FAPESP's process: 13/04585-3 - Deciphering the major trends of molecular and morphological evolution in the Amoebozoa
Grantee:Daniel José Galafasse Lahr
Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
FAPESP's process: 17/04391-5 - Evolution of meiosis in eukaryotes
Grantee:Paulo Gonzalez Hofstatter
Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate