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The Elusive Clone – In Search of Its True Nature and Identity

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Lost Sex

Abstract

Sex in eukaryotes involves a combination of meiosis and syngamy; absence of these processes leads to asexual reproduction of which there are different kinds (Box 9.1). Lineages comprising subsequent generations of such asexually reproducing individuals are nearly invariably referred to as clones. In addition, they are mostly identified by genetic techniques using different molecular markers and with differing powers of resolution. Here, we demonstrate that various clonal concepts are being used without clear discrimination, which can significantly impede both the repeatability of, and comparisons between, studies. An example of the resulting dilemma is that, according to one concept, the more than 350 species of obligate asexual bdelloid rotifers all belong to one clone, whereas according to another concept, each of these species comprises several clones.

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Acknowledgements

KM and IS wish to thank the EC (Project no. MRTN-CT-2004-512492) and the Belgian OSTC (project no. MO/36/015) for funding. HDL was supported by an EU Marie Curie Senior Research Fellowship (TOK FP6-029983). We thank Marty Nemeth of the University of California Riverside Science Library (Special Collections) for kindly providing the photograph of H. J. Webber.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Freshwater Biology, Vautierstraat 29, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Koen Martens & Isa Schön

  2. Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Hugh D. Loxdale

  3. Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knoell-Strasse 8, D-07745, Jena, Germany

    Hugh D. Loxdale

Authors
  1. Koen Martens
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  2. Hugh D. Loxdale
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  3. Isa Schön
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Correspondence to Koen Martens .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Sciences, Royal Belgian Institute of, Vautierstraat 29, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium

    Isa Schön

  2. Sciences Department of Freshwater, Royal Belgian Inst. of Natural, Vautierstraat 29, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium

    Koen Martens

  3. Keygene N.V., Agro Business Park 90, Wageningen, 6708 PW, Netherlands

    Peter Dijk

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Martens, K., Loxdale, H.D., Schön, I. (2009). The Elusive Clone – In Search of Its True Nature and Identity. In: Schön, I., Martens, K., Dijk, P. (eds) Lost Sex. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2770-2_9

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