Losing the desire: selection can promote obligate asexuality.
Whilst parthenogenesis has evolved multiple times from sexual invertebrate and vertebrate lineages, the drivers and consequences of the sex-asex transition remain mostly uncertain. A model by Stouthamer et al. recently published in BMC Evolutionary Biology shows a pathway by which obligate asexuality could be selected for following endosymbiont infection. See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/10/229.
King
Kayla C
KC
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. kingkc@umail.iu.edu
Hurst
Gregory D D
GD
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D008954:Models, Biological; D010312:Parthenogenesis; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D014863:Wasps / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*