The repeated emergence of asexuality, the hidden genomes and the role of parthenogenetic rare males in the brine shrimp Artemia.

Abstract

The backbone of this endeavour consists of three major components as they appear in the title. My intention is to summarise, as explicitly as possible, both existing and novel data on the occurrence of parthenogenetic rare males assessing their role in conveying sets of genetic information between asexual strains and sexual Artemia species to and fro. Additionally, an assemblage of strong indications and evidence is quoted aiming to unravel possible scenarios of the repeated emergence of asexuality in the brine shrimp and its significance in evolutionary processes involved in speciation.