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Asexual Ants maintain Genetic Diversity

How do asexual ants maintain genetic diversity?



It’s commonly accepted wisdom that genetic diversity is vital for the survival of a species, and sexual reproduction helps maintain this diversity. But what happens when a species doesn’t reproduce sexually? Usually, it’s a recipe for low genetic diversity and a ticket to extinction. Yet, in the realm of clonal raider ants, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Why so?

Genetic diversity of clonal raider ants

To give you some context, the clonal raider ant is a blind, queenless creature found in tropical settings around the globe.

The species is originally native to Bangladesh and reproduces through parthenogenesis. This type of asexual reproduction results in offspring that inherit two sets of genetically identical chromosomes from the mother – in other words, clone daughters.

Now, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this should lead to a drastic loss in genetic diversity and, over time, species collapse. But these resilient little creatures are confounding expectations and surviving – and flourishing – quite well.

Kip Lacy, a graduate fellow in the Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, and his mentor Daniel Kronauer are the faces behind this discovery. They found out that the clonal raider ant doesn’t leave gene transmission to chance.

Instead, it ensures that offspring inherit two different versions of its complete genome, thus preserving the genetic diversity existing in the ancient founder of each clonal line.

Diving deeper into the mystery

Under normal circumstances, chromosomes mix randomly during meiosis, a kind of cell division resulting in sperm and egg cells. This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case with our ant friends.


Variation
Alleles
Gene Pool
Heterozygosity
Polymorphism
Genetic Drift
Gene Flow
Mutation
Selection
Bottleneck Effect
Founder Effect
Adaptation
Speciation
Inbreeding
Outbreeding
Hybridization
Conservation Genetics
Population Genetics
Genotype
Phenotype

#GeneticDiversity
#Biodiversity
#GeneticVariation
#Alleles
#GenePool
#Heterozygosity
#Polymorphism
#GeneticDrift
#GeneFlow
#Mutation
#NaturalSelection
#BottleneckEffect
#FounderEffect
#Adaptation
#Speciation
#Inbreeding
#Outbreeding
#Hybridization
#ConservationGenetics
#PopulationGenetics

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