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Ryder OA, Thomas S, Judson JM, Romanov MN, Dandekar S, Papp JC, Sidak-Loftis LC, Walker K, Stalis IH, Mace M, Steiner CC, Chemnick LG. Facultative Parthenogenesis in California Condors. J Hered 2021; 112:569-574. [PMID: 34718632 PMCID: PMC8683835 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esab052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Parthenogenesis is a relatively rare event in birds, documented in unfertilized eggs from columbid, galliform, and passerine females with no access to males. In the critically endangered California condor, parentage analysis conducted utilizing polymorphic microsatellite loci has identified two instances of parthenogenetic development from the eggs of two females in the captive breeding program, each continuously housed with a reproductively capable male with whom they had produced offspring. Paternal genetic contribution to the two chicks was excluded. Both parthenotes possessed the expected male ZZ sex chromosomes and were homozygous for all evaluated markers inherited from their dams. These findings represent the first molecular marker-based identification of facultative parthenogenesis in an avian species, notably of females in regular contact with fertile males, and add to the phylogenetic breadth of vertebrate taxa documented to have reproduced via asexual reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver A Ryder
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
| | - Steven Thomas
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.,SGI-DNA, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Jessica Martin Judson
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.,W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI 49060, USA
| | - Michael N Romanov
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.,School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NJ, UK
| | - Sugandha Dandekar
- Human Genetics Department, GenoSeq Core, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Jeanette C Papp
- Human Genetics Department, GenoSeq Core, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Lindsay C Sidak-Loftis
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA.,Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Program in Vector-borne Diseases, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | | | - Ilse H Stalis
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, CA 92101, USA
| | - Michael Mace
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, CA 92101, USA
| | - Cynthia C Steiner
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
| | - Leona G Chemnick
- Conservation Genetics, Beckman Center for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA 92027, USA
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2
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Cubides-Cubillos SD, Patané JSL, Pereira da Silva KM, Almeida-Santos SM, Polydoro DS, Galassi GG, Travaglia Cardoso SR, Silva MJDJ. Evidence of facultative parthenogenesis in three Neotropical pitviper species of the Bothrops atrox group. PeerJ 2020; 8:e10097. [PMID: 33240594 PMCID: PMC7680053 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We examined four suspected cases of facultative parthenogenesis in three species of a neotropical lineage of pitvipers of the Bothrops atrox group. Reproduction without mating was observed in captive females of B. atrox, B. moojeni and B. leucurus housed alone for seven years (the two former species) and nine years (the latter one). In addition to the observation of captivity data, we investigated molecularly this phenomenon using heterologous microsatellites. DNA was extracted from the mothers’ scales or liver, from embryo and newborn fragments, and yolked ova. Four of the microsatellites showed good amplification using Polymerase Chain Reaction and informative band segregation patterns among each mother and respective offspring. Captivity information, litter characteristics (comparison of the number of newborns, embryos and yolked ova) and molecular data altogether agreed with facultative parthenogenesis predictions in at least three out of the four mothers studied: B. atrox (ID#933) was heterozygous for three out of the four markers, and the sons S1 and S2 were homozygous; B. moojeni (BUT86) was heterozygous for two out of four markers, offspring S1, S3, E2, and E4, and O1 to O6 were homozygous; and B. leucurus (MJJS503) was heterozygous for three out of four markers, and son E1 and O1 were homozygous. B. moojeni (BUT44) was homozygous for all loci analyzed in the mother and offspring, which although not informative is also consistent with parthenogenesis. This study represents the first molecular confirmation of different pitviper species undergoing facultative parthenogenesis among Neotropical endemic snakes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - José S L Patané
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil.,Laboratório Especial de Ciclo Celular, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
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3
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Shibata H, Sakata S, Hirano Y, Nitasaka E, Sakabe A. Facultative parthenogenesis validated by DNA analyses in the green anaconda (Eunectes murinus). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0189654. [PMID: 29236745 PMCID: PMC5728508 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In reptiles, the mode of reproduction is typically sexual. However, facultative parthenogenesis occurs in some Squamata, such as Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and Burmese python (Python bivittatus). Here, we report facultative parthenogenesis in the green anaconda (Eunectes murinus). We found two fully developed female neonates and 17 undeveloped eggs in the oviduct of a female anaconda isolated from other individuals for eight years and two months at Ueno Zoo, Japan. To clarify the zygosity of the neonates, we analyzed 18 microsatellite markers of which 16 were informative. We observed only maternal alleles and no paternal alleles for all 16 markers. To examine the possibility of the long-term sperm storage, we estimated allele frequencies in a putative parental stock by genotyping five unrelated founders. If all founders, including the mother, are originated from a single Mendelian population, then the probability that the neonates were produced by sexual reproduction with an unrelated male via long-term sperm storage was infinitesimally small (2.31E-32 per clutch). We also examined samples from two additional offspring that the mother delivered eight years before her death. We consistently observed paternal alleles in these elder offspring, indicating that the mother had switched from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction during the eight years of isolation. This is the first case of parthenogenesis in Eunectes to be validated by DNA analysis, and suggests that facultative parthenogenesis is widespread in the Boidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroki Shibata
- Division of Genomics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | | | - Yuzo Hirano
- Ueno Zoo, 9-83, Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Eiji Nitasaka
- Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Ai Sakabe
- Ueno Zoo, 9-83, Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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4
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Harmon TS, Kamerman TY, Corwin AL, Sellas AB. Consecutive parthenogenetic births in a spotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2016; 88:741-745. [PMID: 26563982 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2015] [Accepted: 09/10/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Genetic evidence is given to support consecutive parthenogenesis in a spotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari using nuclear microsatellite genotyping. To date, only a handful of births involving the parthenogenesis process in chondrichthyans have been verified using microsatellite markers and even fewer verified as recurring births. This appears to be the first documented case of this process occurring in a myliobatid species.
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Affiliation(s)
- T S Harmon
- Disney's Animals, Science, and Environment, Disney's Animal Kingdom, EPCOT's The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Walt Disney's Parks and Resorts, Bay Lake, FL, 32830, U.S.A
| | - T Y Kamerman
- Disney's Animals, Science, and Environment, Disney's Animal Kingdom, EPCOT's The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Walt Disney's Parks and Resorts, Bay Lake, FL, 32830, U.S.A
| | - A L Corwin
- Disney's Animals, Science, and Environment, Disney's Animal Kingdom, EPCOT's The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Walt Disney's Parks and Resorts, Bay Lake, FL, 32830, U.S.A
| | - A B Sellas
- California Academy of Sciences, Center for Comparative Genomics, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 94118, U.S.A
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Straube N, Lampert KP, Geiger MF, Weiß JD, Kirchhauser JX. First record of second-generation facultative parthenogenesis in a vertebrate species, the whitespotted bambooshark Chiloscyllium plagiosum. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2016; 88:668-675. [PMID: 26727105 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Accepted: 11/06/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
In this study, two parthenogenetic events within a family of the whitespotted bambooshark Chiloscyllium plagiosum are reported. A captive female produced multiple parthenogens. Unexpectedly, a single specimen of a total of nine parthenogens displayed external claspers characterizing the male sex in chondrichthyans. Upon dissection, internal sexual organs of this specimen were malformed or absent; however, the presence of claspers in this study challenges the as yet assumed sex determination system in this shark species. Even more remarkable was that one of the female parthenogens reproduced asexually again producing viable offspring. As far as is known, this is the first genetically confirmed evidence for second-generation facultative parthenogenesis in vertebrates. These results support the evolutionary significance of parthenogenesis as an alternative to sexual reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Straube
- Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Münchhausenstrasse 21, 81247, München, Germany
- Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, mit Phyletischem Museum, Erbertstr. 1, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - K P Lampert
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - M F Geiger
- Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig Bonn, Adenauerallee 160, 53113, Bonn, Germany
| | - J D Weiß
- Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Münchhausenstrasse 21, 81247, München, Germany
| | - J X Kirchhauser
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Erbprinzenstrasse 13, 76133, Karlsruhe, Germany
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6
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Booth W, Schuett GW. The emerging phylogenetic pattern of parthenogenesis in snakes. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Warren Booth
- Department of Biological Sciences; The University of Tulsa; Tulsa OK 74104 USA
- The Copperhead Institute; PO Box 6755 Spartanburg SC 29304 USA
- Chiricahua Desert Museum; PO Box 376 Rodeo NM 88056 USA
| | - Gordon W. Schuett
- The Copperhead Institute; PO Box 6755 Spartanburg SC 29304 USA
- Chiricahua Desert Museum; PO Box 376 Rodeo NM 88056 USA
- Department of Biology and Neuroscience Institute; Georgia State University; Atlanta GA 30303 USA
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7
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An Independent Observation of Facultative Parthenogenesis in the Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix). J HERPETOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1670/14-017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Portnoy DS, Hollenbeck CM, Johnston JS, Casman HM, Gold JR. Parthenogenesis in a whitetip reef shark Triaenodon obesus involves a reduction in ploidy. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2014; 85:502-508. [PMID: 24905881 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2013] [Accepted: 03/28/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Genetic analysis of a female whitetip reef shark Triaenodon obesus and her stillborn pup, assumed to be of parthenogenetic origin, revealed that the pup was homozygous at all 24 nuclear-encoded microsatellites assayed, consistent with the idea that diploidy in the pup had been restored via terminal fusion. Flow cytometric analysis, however, indicated that the genome size of the pup was no more than half that of the mother, and microscopy revealed that nuclear volume was c. 1.73 times larger in the mother than in the pup. Together these data suggest that the pup was genetically haploid, developing directly from an unfertilized egg; as far as is known, this is the first observation of a spontaneously produced haploid vertebrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- D S Portnoy
- Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX, 78412, U.S.A.; Harte Research Institute, Marine Genomics Laboratory, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX, 78412, U.S.A
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SULANDARI SRI, ZEIN MOCHSAMSULARIFIN, ARIDA EVYAYU, HAMIDY AMIR. Molecular Sex Determination of Captive Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) at Gembira Loka Zoo, Surabaya Zoo, and Ragunan Zoo, Indonesia. HAYATI JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES 2014. [DOI: 10.4308/hjb.21.2.65] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
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Booth W, Smith CF, Eskridge PH, Hoss SK, Mendelson JR, Schuett GW. Facultative parthenogenesis discovered in wild vertebrates. Biol Lett 2012; 8:983-5. [PMID: 22977071 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Facultative parthenogenesis (FP)-asexual reproduction by bisexual species-has been documented in a variety of multi-cellular organisms but only recently in snakes, varanid lizards, birds and sharks. Unlike the approximately 80 taxa of unisexual reptiles, amphibians and fishes that exist in nature, FP has yet to be documented in the wild. Based on captive documentation, it appears that FP is widespread in squamate reptiles (snakes, lizards and amphisbaenians), and its occurrence in nature seems inevitable, yet the task of detecting FP in wild individuals has been deemed formidable. Here we show, using microsatellite DNA genotyping and litter characteristics, the first cases of FP in wild-collected pregnant females and their offspring of two closely related species of North American pitviper snakes-the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Our findings support the view that non-hybrid origins of parthenogenesis, such as FP, are more common in squamates than previously thought. With this confirmation, FP can no longer be viewed as a rare curiosity outside the mainstream of vertebrate evolution. Future research on FP in squamate reptiles related to proximate control of induction, reproductive competence of parthenogens and population genetics modelling is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warren Booth
- Department of Entomology and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, PO Box 7613, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
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Reynolds RG, Booth W, Schuett GW, Fitzpatrick BM, Burghardt GM. Successive virgin births of viable male progeny in the checkered gartersnake,Thamnophis marcianus. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01954.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R. Graham Reynolds
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Tennessee; 569 Dabney Hall Knoxville TN 37996-1610 USA
| | - Warren Booth
- Department of Entomology; W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology; North Carolina State University; Box 7613 Raleigh NC 27695 USA
| | - Gordon W. Schuett
- Department of Biology; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience; Georgia State University; 33 Gilmer Street, SE, Unit 8 Atlanta GA 30303-3088 USA
| | - Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Tennessee; 569 Dabney Hall Knoxville TN 37996-1610 USA
| | - Gordon M. Burghardt
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Tennessee; 569 Dabney Hall Knoxville TN 37996-1610 USA
- Department of Psychology; University of Tennessee; 1404 Circle Drive Knoxville TN 37996-0900 USA
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BOOTH WARREN, SCHUETT GORDONW. Molecular genetic evidence for alternative reproductive strategies in North American pitvipers (Serpentes: Viperidae): long-term sperm storage and facultative parthenogenesis. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01782.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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13
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Booth W, Million L, Reynolds RG, Burghardt GM, Vargo EL, Schal C, Tzika AC, Schuett GW. Consecutive virgin births in the new world boid snake, the Colombian rainbow Boa, Epicrates maurus. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011; 102:759-63. [PMID: 21868391 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esr080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Until recently, facultative automictic parthenogenesis within the squamate reptiles exhibiting ZZ:ZW genetic sex determination has resulted in single reproductive events producing male (ZZ) or female (ZW) offspring. With the recent discovery of viable parthenogenetically produced female (WW) Boa constrictors, the existence of further parthenogenetic events resulting in WW females was questioned. Here, we provide genetic evidence for consecutive virgin births by a female Colombian rainbow boa (Epicrates maurus), resulting in the production of WW females likely through terminal fusion automixis. Samples were screened at 22 microsatellite loci with 12 amplifying unambiguous products. Of these, maternal heterozygosity was observed in 4, with the offspring differentially homozygous at each locus. This study documents the first record of parthenogenesis within the genus Epicrates, a second within the serpent lineage Boidae, and the third genetically confirmed case of consecutive virgin births of viable offspring within any vertebrate lineage. Unlike the recent record in Boa constrictors, the female described here was isolated from conspecifics from birth, demonstrating that males are not required to stimulate parthenogenetic reproduction in this species and possibly other Boas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Warren Booth
- Department of Entomology and W. M. Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA.
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Feldheim KA, Chapman DD, Sweet D, Fitzpatrick S, Prodohl PA, Shivji MS, Snowden B. Shark Virgin Birth Produces Multiple, Viable Offspring. J Hered 2010; 101:374-7. [DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esp129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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