Evidence for meiotic sex in bdelloid rotifers

Abstract

In their study of genetic exchange in the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga, Debortoli et al. [1] conclude that the patchwork pattern of allele sharing among three individuals in the genomic regions they examined is "…unlikely to arise in cases of PTH (Oenothera-like) meiosis since haplotypes are transferred as entire blocks…" and therefore that "Genetic exchange among bdelloid rotifers is more likely due to horizontal gene transfer than to meiotic sex." This assumes without justification that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in bdelloids precludes the sexual transmission of entire haplotypes, for which we have reported evidence in the bdelloid Macrotrachela quadricornifera[2]. And it does not consider the contribution to such a patchwork pattern that would result from conversion and subsequent outcrossing, even in Oenothera-like systems.