Thursday, 15 June 2017

Parasitic worms ditch sex to become more efficient crop killers

The swollen tell-tale signs of a tomato plant infected with the Southern root-knot nematode, an asexual ...

Is sex overrated? It depends on who you ask. In the case of the asexual root-knot nematode, the answer would probably be "yes". Unlike animals such as the American cockroach and leopard shark, which are able to produce offspring asexually when the need arises, these parasitic worms have no choice in the matter – they can only reproduce without sex. While this might not sound like a life worth living, nature has given them an edge by turning them into efficient crop-killing machines that outperform their sexually reproducing cousins.

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Category: Biology

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from New Atlas http://ift.tt/2rxdXvO

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