Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 28, Issue 5, 1 May 2013,
Pages 297-306 Jussi Lehtonen, Daniel J. Schmidt, Katja Heubel
and Hanna Kokko Sexual parasites offer unique insights into
asexual and sexual reproduction. They mate with a ‘host’ whose
genetic contribution is discarded either immediately (in
androgenesis or gynogenesis) or after a delay of one generation
(in hybridogenesis). The discarded genome can be maternal or
paternal, implying that not only females but also males can
reproduce asexually. The resulting lineages are often older than
ecological or evolutionary theory predicts. Sexual parasites
have links to a diverse set of concepts: selfish genetic
elements, degradation of clonal genomes, evolution of sex, mate-
choice theory, and host–parasite dynamics. We discuss the
different sexually parasitic systems in both hermaphrodites and
gonochoristic organisms, emphasizing their similarities and
differences in ecological and evolutionary settings. Abstract |
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