Doninck Lab

Research focus

ERC Consolidator Grant · 2016

Rotifers Highlight the Evolution of Asexuals: the mechanisms of genome evolution in the absence of meiosis

Why sexual reproduction is overwhelmingly predominant among the metazoans remains unclear. Ancient asexual taxa are interesting model systems to gain general insights into the adaptive values of sex. The most notorious and the highest taxonomic rank within the metazoans to reproduce asexually is the bdelloid rotifers. While studies suggest that most asexuals arose recently, the published genome of the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga provided the first positive evidence for the long-term ameiotic evolution of this group, confirming its ancient asexuality. How bdelloid rotifers have been able to persist despite the expected negative consequences of asexuality is the focus of this ERC proposal.…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.