Chromosome-level genome assembly reveals homologous chromosomes and recombination in asexual rotifer <i>Adineta vaga</i>
Paul Simion, Jitendra Narayan, Antoine Houtain, Alessandro Derzelle, Lyam Baudry, Émilien Nicolas, Rohan Arora, Marie Cariou, Corinne Cruaud, Florence Rodriguez Gaudray, Clément Gilbert, Nadège Guiglielmoni, Boris Hespeels, Djampa Kozlowski, Karine Labadie, Antoine Limasset, Marc Llirós, Martial Marbouty, Matthieu Terwagne, Julie Virgo, Richard Cordaux, Étienne Danchin, Bernard Hallet, Romain Koszul, Thomas Lenormand, Jean‐François Flot, Karine Van Doninck
Abstract
, composed of six pairs of homologous (diploid) chromosomes with a footprint of paleotetraploidy. The observed large-scale losses of heterozygosity are signatures of recombination between homologous chromosomes, either during mitotic DNA double-strand break repair or when resolving programmed DNA breaks during a modified meiosis. Dynamic subtelomeric regions harbor more structural diversity (e.g., chromosome rearrangements, transposable elements, and haplotypic divergence). Our results trigger the reappraisal of potential meiotic processes in bdelloid rotifers and help unravel the factors underlying their long-term asexual evolutionary success.