Summary
Allozyme studies of Daphnia pulex populations in southern Ontario revealed marked Hardy–Weinberg deviations, complete gametic phase imbalance, and high heterozygosity values. These genotypic characteristics reflect the loss of sexual reproduction; individuals reproduce by obligate parthenogenesis. Thirty-nine clones were identified in the twenty-one habitats surveyed; a few of these clones retained the ability to produce male offspring. Several clones were present in many habitats, but most of the thirty-nine clones were found in only a single pond. The large genetic distances between coexisting clones suggested that in situ mutational divergence was not the source of within habitat clonal diversity. Ecological differences between clones were suggested by distributional patterns and by temporal surveys of clone frequencies.
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Hebert, P., Crease, T. Clonal diversity in populations of Daphnia pulex reproducing by obligate parthenogenesis. Heredity 51, 353–369 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1983.40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1983.40
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