Genomic evidence of paternal genome elimination in the globular springtail Allacma fusca

Kamil S. Jaron, Christina N. Hodson, Jacintha Ellers, Stuart J.E. Baird, Laura Ross

    Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Paternal genome elimination-a type of reproduction in which males inherit but fail to pass on their father's genome-evolved independently in 6-8 arthropod clades. Thousands of species, including several important for agriculture, reproduce via this mode of reproduction. While paternal genome elimination is well established in some of the clades, the evidence in globular springtails (Symphypleona) remains elusive, even though they represent the oldest and most species-rich clade putatively reproducing via paternal genome elimination. We sequenced genomic DNA from whole bodies of Allacma fusca males with high fractions (>27.5%) of sperm to conclusively confirm that all the sperm carry 1 parental haplotype only. Although it is suggestive that the single haplotype present in sperm is maternally inherited, definitive genetic proof of the parent of origin is still needed. The genomic approach we developed allows for the detection of genotypic differences between germline and soma in all species with sufficiently high fraction of germline in their bodies. This opens new opportunities for scans of reproductive modes in small organisms.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numberiyac117
    Pages (from-to)1-10
    Number of pages10
    JournalGenetics
    Volume222
    Issue number3
    Early online date10 Aug 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Genetics Society of America.

    Keywords

    • evolutionary biology
    • genome
    • paternal genome elimination
    • reproduction
    • springtails

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