Human asexuality is defined as a lack of sexual attraction, and research suggests that it may be best conceptualized as a sexual orientation. Sexual fantasies are thought to be universally experienced and are often understood to represent true sexual desire more accurately than sexual behaviour. We investigated the relationship between asexuality, masturbation and sexual fantasy as part of a la...

Asexual lineages can derive from sexual ancestors via different mechanisms and at variable rates, which affects the diversity of the asexual population and thereby its ecological success. We investigated the variation and evolution of reproductive systems in Aptinothrips, a genus of grass thrips comprising four species. Extensive population surveys and breeding experiments indicated sexual repr...

Despite much theoretical work, the molecular-genetic causes and evolutionary consequences of asexuality remain largely undetermined. Asexual animal species are rare, evolutionarily short-lived, and thought to suffer mutational meltdown as a result of lack of recombination. Whole-genome analysis of 11 sexual and 11 asexual genotypes of Daphnia pulex indicates that current asexual lineages are in...

Despite an abundance of theory, few empirical studies have explored the ecological and evolutionary consequences of sex. We used a comparative phylogenetic approach to examine whether transitions between sexual and asexual reproduction are associated with changes in the size and distribution of species' geographical ranges, and their investment in reproduction. Here, we reconstructed the phylog...

Despite the importance of plant-herbivore interactions to the ecology and evolution of terrestrial ecosystems, the evolutionary factors contributing to variation in plant defenses against herbivores remain unresolved. We used a comparative phylogenetic approach to examine a previously untested hypothesis (Recombination-Mating System Hypothesis) that posits that reduced sexual reproduction limit...

Anopheles darlingi Root is the most important malaria vector in the Amazonia region of South America. However, continuous propagation of An. darlingi in the laboratory has been elusive, limiting entomological, genetic/genomic, and vector-pathogen interaction studies of this mosquito species. Here, we report the establishment of an An. darlingi colony derived from wild-caught mosquitoes obtained...

Explaining the overwhelming success of sex among eukaryotes is difficult given the obvious costs of sex relative to asexuality. Different studies have shown that sex can provide benefits in spatially heterogeneous environments under specific conditions, but whether spatial heterogeneity commonly contributes to the maintenance of sex in natural populations remains unknown. We experimentally mani...

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of malaria tropica in man. Biochemical studies were focused on the asexual, intraerythrocytic stages of E? falciparum, because of their role in the clinical phase of the disease and the possibility of propagation in a cell culture system. In this report, we describe the in-culture labeling of malarial glycolipids and the analysis of their hydrophilic...

Siderophores are chelators synthesized by microbes to sequester iron. This article summarizes the knowledge on the fungal siderophore metabolism with a focus on Aspergillus fumigatus. In recent years, A. fumigatus became a role model for fungal biosynthesis, uptake and degradation of siderophores as well as regulation of siderophore-mediated iron handling and the elucidation of siderophore func...

ABSTRACT: The asexual propagation of conifers, such as Podocarpus macrophyllus (Thunb.) Sweet, faces difficulties. Among the factors that can improve efficiency are types cuttings used and lesions performed at base cuttings, use plant regulators, indolebutyric acid (IBA). This study determined to be cutting base, type used, method convey IBA concentration required obtain a proper rooting condit...