Mites Re-Evolve Sexual Reproduction
by MikeGeneResearchers from the University of Darmstadt in Germany and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry reported this week on a family of mites that have forsaken asexual reproduction and re-evolved to reproduce sexually. Reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the revival of a complex trait such as sexual reproduction after it had been dormant for millions of years raises interesting questions about our understanding of evolutionary biology.
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The discovery raises some intriguing questions. Why do some organisms continue to reproduce asexually, given the distinct evolutionary advantages - especially defenses against parasites, predators and competitors - from reproducing sexually and mixing genomes? And how can an organism jump-start a group of genes - such as those specific to sexual reproduction - after many millions of years of not being used?
Here is the study. I have not read it yet, but it sure looks interesting.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Answer:
The genes haven't been out of use for millions of years.
Comment by Jehu — April 22, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:22 am
How do they know that?
Comment by inunison — April 23, 2007 @ 8:22 am
April 24th, 2007 at 11:21 am
The most intriguing thing about this study is that it suggests that Dolo's law, "that complex ancestral states can never be reacquired" has been violated. That a law should be violated seems rather earth-shaking significant scientific finding to me, on the order of the discovery of anti-gravity paint.
Alas, what I have seen from the genome makes this to be no surprise. We have seen ultraconserved non-coding DNA be inessential to organisms that posess it. We have seen thousands of highly conserved nucleotides removed from creatures without any measurable deleterious effects. It would seem that DNA which is not protected by natural selection periodically chooses to maintain its integrity anyway. Such is likely the case here — assuming the data is correct, and these mites have not been reguarly bouncing back and forth between sexual and asexual reproduction for eons. In any case, this is a nice little nail in the evidenciary coffin of the neo-Darwinian, RV+NS model.
Comment by bFast — April 24, 2007 @ 11:21 am