Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology (URBE), University of Namur (FUNDP), Namur, Belgium.
Heredity (Edinb). 2012 Jun;108(6):581-91. doi: 10.1038/hdy.2012.3. Epub 2012 Apr 4.
Among the asexual reproductive modes, androgenesis is probably one of the most astonishing and least studied mechanisms. In this 'paternal monopolization', the maternal nuclear genome fails to participate in zygote development and offspring are paternal nuclear clones. Obligate androgenesis is known in only a few organisms, including multiple species of clam in the genus Corbicula. Corbicula is a good system to review the evolutionary consequences of this 'all-male asexuality' because the cytological mechanisms of androgenetic reproduction have been described. In Corbicula, sperm are unreduced and, after fertilization, the maternal nuclear chromosomes are extruded as two polar bodies. Hermaphroditic lineages of Corbicula have a worldwide distribution and seem to reproduce through androgenesis, whereas their sexual relatives have restricted ranges. The invasive success of these androgenetic Corbicula lineages may be linked to their asexual mode of reproduction. We review the phenomenon of androgenesis, focusing on evolutionary perspectives, using the genus Corbicula as an exemplar system.
在无性生殖模式中，雄核发育可能是最令人惊讶和研究最少的机制之一。在这种“父系垄断”中，母核基因组未能参与受精卵的发育，后代是父系核的克隆。只有少数几种生物存在强制性的雄核发育，包括 Corbiculidae 属的多种贻贝。 Corbiculidae 是一个很好的系统，可以回顾这种“全雄无性生殖”的进化后果，因为已经描述了雄核发育的细胞学机制。在 Corbiculidae 中，精子是未经减数分裂的，受精后，母核染色体作为两个极体被排出。 Corbiculidae 的雌雄同体谱系分布广泛，似乎通过雄核发育进行繁殖，而它们的有性亲缘体的分布范围则受到限制。这些具有入侵性的雄核发育 Corbiculidae 谱系的成功可能与其无性生殖方式有关。我们使用 Corbiculidae 属作为范例系统，从进化的角度综述了雄核发育现象。
