Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

EVOLUTION OF SEX

Genomic health in an asexual fish

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 2, pages 595–596 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

The genome of the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), a parthenogenetic fish species, shows little genetic decay and a high degree of diversity. The genetic health of this asexual vertebrate is surprising given the accumulation of genomic damage that is expected to follow from asexual reproduction.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: The Amazon molly (P. formosa) is an asexual fish with remarkable good genomic health.

References

  1. Lehtonen, J., Jennions, M. D. & Kokko, H. Trends Ecol. Evol. 27, 172–178 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Barton, N. & Charlesworth, B. Science 281, 1986–1990 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. West, S. A., Liveley, C. M. & Read, A. F. J. Evol. Biol. 12, 1003–1012 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Warren, W. C. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0473-y (2018).

  5. Liveley, C. M. J. Hered. 101, S13–20 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Redfield, R. J. Nature 369, 145–147 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wilson Sayres, M. A. & Makova, K. D. Bioessays 33, 938–945 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ellegren, H. & Fridolfsson, A.-K. J. Mol. Evol. 56, 458–463 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Pedram Samani

  2. Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Max Reuter

Authors
  1. Pedram Samani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Max Reuter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Pedram Samani or Max Reuter.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Samani, P., Reuter, M. Genomic health in an asexual fish. Nat Ecol Evol 2, 595–596 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0485-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0485-7

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing