scholarly journals On the Causes of Selection for Recombination Underlying the Red Queen Hypothesis

2009 ◽  
Vol 174 (S1) ◽  
pp. S31-S42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Salathé ◽  
Roger D. Kouyos ◽  
Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Keyword(s):  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Red Queen ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Red Queen

The Red Queen hypothesis and geographical parthenogenesis in the alpine hawkweed Hieracium alpinum (Asteraceae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hartmann ◽  
Michal Štefánek ◽  
Pavel Zdvořák ◽  
Petr Heřman ◽  
Jindřich Chrtek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Red Queen ◽  
Geographical Parthenogenesis ◽  
The Red Queen

scholarly journals Continual evolution through coupled fast and slow feedbacks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike T. Wortel ◽  
Han Peters ◽  
Juan A. Bonachela ◽  
Nils Chr. Stenseth
Keyword(s):  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Functional Form ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Red Queen ◽  
Minimal Set ◽  
The Given ◽  
The Red Queen

AbstractThe Red Queen Hypothesis, which suggests that continual evolution can result from solely biotic interactions, has been studied in macroevolutionary and microevolutionary contexts. While microevolutionary studies have described examples in which evolution does not cease, understanding which general conditions lead to continual evolution or to stasis remains a major challenge. In many cases, it is unclear which experimental features or model assumptions are necessary for the observed continual evolution to emerge, and whether the described behavior is robust to variations in the given setup. Here, we aim to find the minimal set of conditions under which continual evolution occurs. To this end, we present a theoretical framework that does not assume any specific functional form and, therefore, can be applied to a wide variety of systems. Our framework is also general enough to cast predictions about both monomorphic and polymorphic populations. We show that the combination of a fast positive and a slow negative feedback causes continual evolution to emerge even from the evolution of one single evolving trait, provided that the ecological timescale is sufficiently separated from the timescales of mutation and the negative feedback. Our approach and results thus contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolutionary dynamics resulting from biotic interactions.

scholarly journals Parasite Selection and the Fitness of Sexual Reproduction

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Klosak
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Natural Population ◽  
Reproductive Mode ◽  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Red Queen ◽  
Trematode Parasite ◽  
Maintenance Of Sex ◽  
Fitness Consequence ◽  
Offspring Generation ◽  
The Red Queen

Sexual reproduction is a very costly process: the growth rate of asexual lineages exceeds that of sexual lineages. Nonetheless, sex is prevalent in nature. The Red Queen Hypothesis argues that, because sex and recombination generate genetically variable offspring that may escape infection by coevolving parasites, parasites select for sex in hosts (Lively & Dybdahl, 2000). Our research directly tests if the Red Queen can explain the maintenance of sex in a natural population. This experiment focuses on a natural population of the snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum, which is native to New Zealand. Individuals of this species are either diploid and sexually reproducing or triploid and asexually reproducing (Lively & Osnas, 2006). This snail is naturally infected by the trematode parasite, Microphallus, which is sterilizing and thus exerts strong selection on its host. The Red Queen Hypothesis predicts that parasites should periodically increase the fitness of sexual relative to asexual individuals. We accordingly established mesocosms containing both sexual and asexual snails from the same natural population. Half of these mesocosms were exposed to parasites and the other half were not. These snails were then allowed to reproduce over the course of a year. We used flow cytometry to determine the frequency of diploids in the parents and the offspring, and thereby the fitness of sexual individuals in the presence and absence of parasites. Interestingly, we find that sexual individuals are currently more susceptible to parasites than are asexual individuals. In tanks in which sexual parents are relatively more infected, the frequency of sexual individuals declined significantly more in the offspring generation, indicating a fitness consequence of parasitism for sexual reproduction. Our findings suggest that parasite selection can indeed operate on reproductive mode. Moreover, our results are consistent with theory (King, Delph, Jokela, & Lively, 2009) and a prior field study in our system indicating that the direction of parasite selection is variable, such that parasites periodically select against sexual reproduction (Vergara, Lively, King, & Jokela, 2013). This current experiment will continue for multiple years in order to track the variation in parasite selection on sex through time. 

scholarly journals Exposure to parasites increases promiscuity in a freshwater snail

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 20131091 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Soper ◽  
K. C. King ◽  
D. Vergara ◽  
C. M. Lively
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Freshwater Snail ◽  
Potamopyrgus Antipodarum ◽  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Red Queen ◽  
Trematode Parasite ◽  
Multiple Partners ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Red Queen

Under the Red Queen hypothesis, outcrossing can produce genetically variable progeny, which may be more resistant, on average, to locally adapted parasites. Mating with multiple partners may enhance this resistance by further increasing the genetic variation among offspring. We exposed Potamopyrgus antipodarum to the eggs of a sterilizing, trematode parasite and tested whether this altered mating behaviour. We found that exposure to parasites increased the number of snail mating pairs and the total number of different mating partners for both males and females. Thus, our results suggest that, in host populations under parasite-mediated selection, exposure to infective propagules increases the rate of mating and the number of mates.

A comparison of parasite loads on asexual and sexual Phoxinus (Pisces: Cyprinidae)

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 808-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Mee ◽  
L. Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Red Queen Hypothesis ◽  
Red Queen ◽  
Intensity Of Infection ◽  
Sexual Species ◽  
Asexual Species ◽  
The Red Queen

In light of the inherent disadvantages of sexual reproduction, the existence of sex is often seen as a paradox. There are a variety of hypothetical benefits of sexual reproduction that may balance its disadvantages. The Red Queen hypothesis proposes that sexually reproducing species are better able to evolve resistance to parasites than asexually reproducing species. A prediction of the Red Queen hypothesis is that a parasite should evolve to preferentially exploit an asexual species over a sexual species. To test this central prediction of the Red Queen hypothesis, intensity of infection by the parasite Gyrodactylus eos Mayes, 1977 (Monogenea) was compared between sympatric asexual and sexual fish species in the genus Phoxinus Rafinesque, 1820. In each lake where these species coexist, the asexual fish should suffer higher intensities of infection than the sexual fish. In the majority of lakes sampled, there were more parasites on asexual than sexual fish.

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