PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Philipp H. Schiffer AU - Etienne G.J. Danchin AU - Ann M. Burnell AU - Anne-Marike Schiffer AU - Christopher J. Creevey AU - Simon Wong AU - Ilona Dix AU - Georgina O’Mahony AU - Bridget A. Culleton AU - Corinne Rancurel AU - Gary Stier AU - Elizabeth A. Martínez-Salazar AU - Aleksandra Marconi AU - Urmi Trivedi AU - Michael Kroiher AU - Michael A. S. Thorne AU - Einhard Schierenberg AU - Thomas Wiehe AU - Mark Blaxter TI - Signatures of the evolution of parthenogenesis and cryptobiosis in the genomes of panagrolaimid nematodes AID - 10.1101/159152 DP - 2017 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 159152 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/03/159152.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/03/159152.full AB - Most animal species reproduce sexually, but parthenogenesis, asexual reproduction of various forms, has arisen repeatedly. Parthenogenetic lineages are usually short lived, though in some environments parthenogenesis may be advantageous. Panagrolaimus nematodes have colonised environments ranging from arid deserts to arctic and antarctic biomes. Many are parthenogens, and most have cryptobiotic (anhydrobiotic and/or cryobiotic) abilities. We compared the genomes and transcriptomes of parthenogenetic and sexual Panagrolaimus species to identify systems that contribute to these striking abilities. The parthenogens are triploids of hybrid origin. All Panagrolaimus have acquired genes through horizontal gene transfer, some of which are likely to contribute to cryptobiosis.