Sex enhances survival inParamecium

2019 · doi:10.1101/861187
preprint OA: closed
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This evolutionary biology study investigates why sexual reproduction persists despite its inherent costs by examining the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia. The researchers demonstrate that self-fertilization enhances stress resistance in these organisms through mechanisms independent of generating new genetic variation. This finding links the molecular processes of sexual reproduction directly to improved individual fitness and survival under nutritional stress. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

The pervasiveness of sex despite its well-known costs is a long-standing puzzle in evolutionary biology. Current explanations for the success of sex in nature largely rely on the adaptive significance of the new or rare genotypes that sex may generate. Less explored is the possibility that sex-underlying molecular mechanisms can enhance fitness and convey benefits to the individuals that bear the immediate costs of sex. Here we show that self-fertilization can increase stress resistance in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia . This advantage is independent of new genetic variation, coupled with a reduced nutritional input, and offers fresh insights into the mechanistic origin of sex. In addition to providing evidence that the molecular underpinnings of sexual reproduction and the stress response are linked in P. tetraurelia , these findings supply an explanation for the persistence of self-fertilization in this ciliate.
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Abstract The pervasiveness of sex despite its well-known costs is a long-standing puzzle in evolutionary biology. Current explanations for the success of sex in nature largely rely on the adaptive significance of the new or rare genotypes that sex may generate. Less explored is the possibility that sex-underlying molecular mechanisms can enhance fitness and convey benefits to the individuals that bear the immediate costs of sex. Here we show that self-fertilization can increase stress resistance in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia. This advantage is independent of new genetic variation, coupled with a reduced nutritional input, and offers fresh insights into the mechanistic origin of sex. In addition to providing evidence that the molecular underpinnings of sexual reproduction and the stress response are linked in P. tetraurelia, these findings supply an explanation for the persistence of self-fertilization in this ciliate.

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