Glucose has been recognized as an energy source for a long time, but it has recently been suggested that the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) and downstream protein O-GlcNAcylation have important functions in mouse preimplantation development. Thus, whether or not O-GlcNAcylation was present and what functions O-GlcNAcylation has in pig preimplantation development were investigated in the ...

Ploidy is predicted to influence adaptation directly, yet whether single mutations behave the same in different ploidy backgrounds has not been well studied. It has often been assumed theoretically that aside from dominance, selective parameters do not differ between cells of varying ploidy. Using the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, I compared the effect size of 20 adaptive mutations in...

One of the powerful tools of adaptive dynamics is its so-called canonical equation (CE), a differential equation describing how the prevailing trait vector changes over evolutionary time. The derivation of the CE is based on two simplifying assumptions, separation of population dynamical and mutational time scales and small mutational steps. (It may appear that these two conditions rarely go to...

Characteristics of parthenogenesis in Cacopsylla ledi (Flor, 1861) were analyzed using cytological and molecular approaches. In all three populations studied from Finland, i.e. Turku, Kustavi and Siikajoki, males were present at a low frequency but were absent from a population from Vorkuta, Russia. In a follow-up study conducted in the Turku population during 2010-2016, the initial frequency o...

Using a bit string model, we show that asexual reproduction for diploids is more efficient than for haploids: it improves genetic material producing new individuals with less deleterious mutations. We also see that in a system where competition is present, diploids dominate, even though we consider some dominant loci.

Sexual interaction between strains of opposite sex in many fungi of the order Mucorales modifies hyphal morphology and increases the carotene content. The progeny of crosses of Phycomyces blakesleeanus usually include a small proportion of anomalous segregants that show these signs of sexual stimulation without a partner. We have analyzed the genetic constitution of such segregants from crosses...

Mulinia lateralis, the dwarf surfclam, is a suitable model for bivalve genetics because it is hardy and has a short generation time. In this study, gynogenetic and triploid M. lateralis were successfully induced. For gynogenesis, eggs were fertilized with sperm irradiated with ultraviolet light and subsequently treated with cytochalasin B to block the release of the second polar body (PB2). Tri...

The genetic basis of vegetative incompatibility in the cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum, is elucidated. Vegetatively compatible haploid strains from parasexual diploids at a frequency of between 10(-6) and 10(-5), whereas "escaped" diploids are formed between vegetatively incompatible strains at a frequency of approximately 10(-8). There is probably only a single vegetative incompa...