Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Univerzita Karlova, 128 43 Praha, Czech Republic.
Department of Earth Sciences, Université de Genève, 1205 Genève, Switzerland.
J R Soc Interface. 2022 Feb;19(187):20210860. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2021.0860. Epub 2022 Feb 16.
Understanding the biology of reproduction of an organismal lineage is important for retracing key evolutionary processes, yet gaining detailed insights often poses major challenges. Planktonic Foraminifera are globally distributed marine microbial eukaryotes and important contributors to the global carbon cycle. They cannot routinely be cultured under laboratory conditions across generations, and thus details of their life cycle remain incomplete. The production of flagellated gametes has long been taken as an indication of exclusively sexual reproduction, but recent research suggests the existence of an additional asexual generation in the life cycle. To gain a better understanding of the reproductive biology of planktonic Foraminifera, we applied a dynamic, individual-based modelling approach with parameters based on laboratory and field observations to test if sexual reproduction is sufficient for maintaining viable populations. We show that temporal synchronization and potentially spatial concentration of gamete release seems inevitable for maintenance of the population under sexual reproduction. We hypothesize that sexual reproduction is likely beneficial during the adaptation to new environments, while population sustenance in stable environments can be ensured through asexual reproduction.
了解生物谱系的生殖生物学对于追溯关键的进化过程很重要，但要获得详细的见解往往会带来重大挑战。浮游有孔虫是分布广泛的海洋微生物真核生物，是全球碳循环的重要贡献者。它们不能在实验室条件下常规地进行代际培养，因此它们的生命周期细节仍不完整。有鞭毛配子的产生长期以来被认为是专性有性繁殖的标志，但最近的研究表明，其生命周期中还存在一个额外的无性世代。为了更好地了解浮游有孔虫的生殖生物学，我们应用了一种基于动态、个体的建模方法，该方法的参数基于实验室和野外观察，以测试有性繁殖是否足以维持有活力的种群。我们表明，在有性繁殖下，配子释放的时间同步和潜在的空间集中似乎是维持种群生存所必需的。我们假设，有性繁殖可能有利于适应新环境，而在稳定环境中，通过无性繁殖可以确保种群的维持。
