Groot T V M, Bruins E, Breeuwer J A J
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94062, 1090 GB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Heredity (Edinb). 2003 Feb;90(2):130-5. doi: 10.1038/sj.hdy.6800210.
Parthenogenesis among reptiles is rare. Only a few species have the ability to reproduce asexually. Most of these are obligate parthenogenetic species that consist (almost) entirely of females, which can reproduce solely through parthenogenesis. Rarer are sexual species that only sporadically reproduce through parthenogenesis. A female Python molurus bivittatus (Reptilia, Boidae) from the Artis Zoo, Amsterdam, produced eggs in five consecutive years that contained embryos while she was isolated from males. These eggs might be fertilized with stored sperm, or might be the product of parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis has not been shown for the Boidae family before. We performed parentship analyses on the snake and seven of her embryos using microsatellites and AFLP. Four microsatellite loci developed for this species combined with three loci developed previously for different snake species revealed too little variation to discriminate between sperm retention and parthenogenesis. With AFLP we were able to confirm that the Artis Zoo female reproduced parthenogenetically. Because the offspring are genetically identical to their mother, whereas in previous studies on sporadic parthenogenesis in snakes a loss of genetic information was reported, we conclude that the meiotic pathways that produce the diploid egg cells are different.
爬行动物中的孤雌生殖现象较为罕见。只有少数物种具备无性繁殖的能力。其中大多数是专性孤雌生殖物种，几乎完全由雌性组成，它们仅能通过孤雌生殖进行繁殖。更为罕见的是有性生殖物种，它们只是偶尔通过孤雌生殖进行繁殖。来自阿姆斯特丹阿蒂斯动物园的一条雌性双带蟒（爬行纲，蚺科）在连续五年中产出了含有胚胎的卵，而在此期间它与雄性隔离。这些卵可能是由储存的精子受精而成，也可能是孤雌生殖的产物。此前从未在蚺科中发现过孤雌生殖现象。我们使用微卫星和扩增片段长度多态性（AFLP）技术对这条蛇及其七个胚胎进行了亲权分析。为该物种开发的四个微卫星位点与之前为不同蛇类物种开发的三个位点相结合，所揭示的变异太少，无法区分精子留存和孤雌生殖。通过AFLP技术，我们能够确认阿蒂斯动物园的这条雌性蛇是通过孤雌生殖进行繁殖的。由于后代在基因上与其母亲相同，而在之前关于蛇类偶发性孤雌生殖的研究中报告存在遗传信息丢失的情况，我们得出结论，产生二倍体卵细胞的减数分裂途径是不同的。
