Empirical investigation of the factors determining the cost of sexual reproduction in Rotifera

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Olaf Bininda-Emonds
• Subject Area: Animal Physiology and Biochemistry
• Term: from 2009 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 153785715

Despite much theoretical work, the evolution and maintenance of sexual reproduction remain enduring puzzles in evolutionary biology. Generally lacking in answering the question of sex, however, are empirical data to test the many theoretical hypotheses. The proposed research aims to address this deficiency by measuring the comparative cost of sexual reproduction in Rotifera, a group ideally suited for empirical investigations in this area. They are small, fast reproducing animals that are easy to cultivate and display a range of evolutionarily stable reproductive strategies (from obligate sexuality to facultative asexuality to obligate asexuality). The proposed research will deliver much needed empirical data, including measurements of the cost of sex from comparisons of sexual versus Bininda-Emonds and Ahlrichs – 3 asexual reproduction both within facultative sexual clonal lines and between them and obligate sexual and asexual species. Experiments designed to quantify the relative contributions to the induction of sex in facultative sexual species by different stressors (UV irradiation, temperature, food levels, and parasites) will test a recent, pluralistic hypothesis advocating that different mechanisms working synergistically are responsible for the origin and maintenance of sex. A final, unique focus will be to ascertain how deleterious mutations, a long-term threat for asexual species, are either avoided and/or purged in asexual versus sexual species. The proposed research thus provides key empirical data to complement, test, and stimulate ongoing theoretical work.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Wilko H. Ahlrichs