Genetic Control of Contagious Asexuality in the Pea Aphid

Although evolutionary transitions from sexual to asexual reproduction are frequent in eukaryotes, the genetic bases of such shifts toward asexuality remain largely unknown. We addressed this issue in an aphid species where both sexual and obligate asexual lineages coexist in natural populations. These sexual and asexual lineages may occasionally interbreed because some asexual lineages maintain a residual production of males potentially able to...