"Tây lương nữ quốc" của loài bọ

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There’s a reason why so many animals go through the rigmarole (kể lể luyên thuyên, dông dài; câu chuyện không đâu vào đâu) of sexual
reproduction, as when two genotypes become one it brings with it a welcome boost of genetic variation. Such variation can be crucial for the survival of a species, enabling them to overcome change better than a population confined by very little in the way of genetic wiggle room. For this reason, it was thought that asexually reproducing species were doomed to a dead-end fate – but new research has discovered a beetle that’s endured without bonking for millions of years.

Published in the journal PNAS, the study focused on the beetle mite species Oppiella nova. They gathered up specimens from a range of populations as well as some members of the closely related species Oppiella subpectinata. What separates the two groups of beetle mites is that O. nova was thought to reproduce asexually while O. subpectinata is known to get it on instead.

They then sequenced their genomes to search for what’s known as the Meselson effect, evidence for a species that reproduces exclusively through asexual means. If found, it would prove that O. nova - a species of beetle mite made up entirely of females - truly have survived for millions of years without the need for sexual reproduction.

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