ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2008
Quantifying the threat of extinction from Muller's ratchet in the diploid Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa).
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ancestral gene flow shaped the singular origin of the Amazon molly.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
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- Gain and Loss of Heterozygosity in the Genome of the Asexual Nematode Halicephalobus mephisto.Journal of molecular evolution · 2025Article
- Article
- Achiasmatic meiosis in the unisexual Amazon molly, Poecilia formosa.Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology · 2022Article
- Changes in Ploidy Drive Reproduction Transition and Genomic Diversity in a Polyploid Fish Complex.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Sex determination mechanisms and sex control approaches in aquaculture animals.Science China. Life sciences · 2022Review
- Transposon activity, local duplications and propagation of structural variants across haplotypes drive the evolution of the Drosophila S2 cell line.BMC genomics · 2022Article
- Genomic anatomy of male-specific microchromosomes in a gynogenetic fish.PLoS genetics · 2021Article
- Fixation of allelic gene expression landscapes and expression bias pattern shape the transcriptome of the clonal Amazon molly.Genome research · 2021Article
- Genotypic Males Play an Important Role in the Creation of Genetic Diversity in Gynogenetic Gibel Carp.Frontiers in genetics · 2021Article
- No evidence for accumulation of deleterious mutations and fitness degradation in clonal fish hybrids: Abandoning sex without regrets.Molecular ecology · 2020Article
- Interplay between whole-genome doubling and the accumulation of deleterious alterations in cancer evolution.Nature genetics · 2020Article
- A little bit of sex prevents mutation accumulation even in apomictic polyploid plants.BMC evolutionary biology · 2019Article
- Clonal polymorphism and high heterozygosity in the celibate genome of the Amazon molly.Nature ecology & evolution · 2018Article
- Evolvix BEST Names for semantic reproducibility across code2brain interfaces.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2017Review
- Origins of two hemiclonal hybrids among threeEcology and evolution · 2016Article
- SNP Formation Bias in the Murine Genome Provides Evidence for Parallel Evolution.Genome biology and evolution · 2015Article
- Unisexual reproduction reverses Muller's ratchet.Genetics · 2014Article
- Population genomics reveals a possible history of backcrossing and recombination in the gynogenetic fish Poecilia formosa.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) is a small unisexual fish that has been suspected of being threatened by extinction from the stochastic accumulation of slightly deleterious mutations that is caused by Muller's ratchet in non-recombining populations. However, no detailed quantification of the extent of this threat is available.
resultsHere we quantify genomic decay in this fish by using a simple model of Muller's ratchet with the most realistic parameter combinations available employing the evolution@home global computing system. We also describe simple extensions of the standard model of Muller's ratchet that allow us to deal with selfing diploids, triploids and mitotic recombination. We show that Muller's ratchet creates a threat of extinction for the Amazon molly for many biologically realistic parameter combinations. In most cases, extinction is expected to occur within a time frame that is less than previous estimates of the age of the species, leading to a genomic decay paradox.
conclusionHow then does the Amazon molly survive? Several biological processes could individually or in combination solve this genomic decay paradox, including paternal leakage of undamaged DNA from sexual sister species, compensatory mutations and many others. More research is needed to quantify the contribution of these potential solutions towards the survival of the Amazon molly and other (ancient) asexual species.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.