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1 August 2008 Selfish Genetic Elements Favor The Evolution of a Distinction Between Soma and Germline
Louise J. Johnson
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Abstract

Many multicellular organisms have evolved a dedicated germline. This can benefit the whole organism, but its advantages to genetic parasites have not been explored. Here I model the evolutionary success of a selfish element, such as a transposable element or endosymbiont, which is capable of creating or strengthening a germline-soma distinction in a primitively multicellular host, and find that it will always benefit the element to do so. Genes causing germline sequestration can therefore spread in a population even if germline sequestration is maladaptive for the host organism. Costly selfish elements are expected to survive only in sexual populations, so sexual species may experience an additional push toward germline-soma distinction, and hence toward cell differentiation and multicellularity.

Louise J. Johnson "Selfish Genetic Elements Favor The Evolution of a Distinction Between Soma and Germline," Evolution 62(8), 2122-2124, (1 August 2008). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00433.x
Received: 6 March 2008; Accepted: 5 February 2008; Published: 1 August 2008
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KEYWORDS
Evolutionary transitions
INTRAGENOMIC CONFLICT
Multicellularity
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