Abstract
Bdelloid rotifers, common freshwater invertebrates of ancient origin and worldwide distribution have long been thought to be entirely asexual, being the principal exception to the view that in eukaryotes the loss of sex leads to early extinction. That bdelloids are facultatively sexual is shown by a study of allele sharing within a group of closely related bdelloids of the species Macrotrachella quadricornifera, making it likely that sexual reproduction is essential for long-term success in all eukaryotes.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Data Availability The sequencing reads (Illumina and Nanopore) and assemblies generated in this study are available from NCBI BioProject PRJNA773114.
Difference matrices, phylograms, alignments (tic plots), and raw data are available at https://github.com/tsackton/rotifer-outcrossing