Article
The asexual ploidy cycle and the origin of sex.
Nature - 21 Jul 1994
Kondrashov A S
Abstract excerpt
Sex involves syngamy (gamete fusion), which doubles the amount of DNA in a cell, and meiosis, which halves it. The result is a 'ploidy cycle' of alternating diploid and haploid phases. Asexual reproduction does not require changes of ploidy, and yet asexual forms may have ploidy cycles. Here I show that such cycles lessen the mutation load, compared with permanent diploidy or polyploidy, and are thus likely to...
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