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- Title
All-male hybrids of a tetrapod <italic>Pelophylax esculentus</italic> share its origin and genetics of maintenance.
- Authors
Doležálková-Kaštánková, Marie; Pruvost, Nicolas B. M.; Plötner, Jörg; Reyer, Heinz-Ulrich; Janko, Karel; Choleva, Lukáš
- Abstract
Background: Sexual parasites offer unique insights into the reproduction of unisexual and sexual populations. Because unisexuality is almost exclusively linked to the female sex, most studies addressed host-parasite dynamics in populations where sperm-dependent females dominate. <italic>Pelophylax</italic> water frogs from Central Europe include hybrids of both sexes, collectively named <italic>P. esculentus</italic>. They live syntopically with their parental species <italic>P. lessonae</italic> and/or <italic>P. ridibundus</italic>. Some hybrid lineages consist of all males providing a chance to understand the origin and perpetuation of a host-parasite (egg-dependent) system compared to sperm-dependent parthenogenesis. Methods: We focused on <italic>P. ridibundus</italic>-<italic>P. esculentus</italic> populations where <italic>P. ridibundus</italic> of both sexes lives together with only diploid <italic>P. esculentus</italic> males. Based on 17 microsatellite markers and six allozyme loci, we analyzed (i) the variability of individual genomes, (ii) the reproductive mode(s) of all-male hybrids, and (iii) the genealogical relationships between the hybrid and parental genomes. Results: Our microsatellite data revealed that <italic>P. esculentus</italic> males bear Mendelian-inherited <italic>ridibundus</italic> genomes while the <italic>lessonae</italic> genome represents a single clone. Our data indicate that this clone did not recently originate from adjacent <italic>P. lessonae</italic> populations, suggesting an older in situ or ex situ origin. Conclusions: Our results confirm that also males can perpetuate over many generations as the unisexual lineage and successfully compete with <italic>P. ridibundus</italic> males for eggs provided by <italic>P. ridibundus</italic> females. Natural persistence of such sex-specific hybrid populations allows to studying the similarities and differences between male and female reproductive parasitism in many biological settings.
- Subjects
FROGS; PELOPHYLAX; PARTHENOGENESIS; ANIMAL sexual behavior
- Publication
Biology of Sex Differences, 2018, Vol 9, p1
- ISSN
2042-6410
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s13293-018-0172-z