Animals do it. Plants do it. And fungi do it…much of the time anyway. Reproduce sexually. If you sat through Biology 101 (as did I) you no doubt learned that despite its drawbacks (energetically expensive, dangerous with predators always lurking nearby), there are big advantages to sexual reproduction. Namely, it’s how living organisms come about genetic variability…which drives evolution.
Still, there is one group of tiny organisms that have shed the yoke of sexual reproduction–millions of years ago. And they’ve not succumbed to evolutionary pressures. And for a long time scientists have asked HOW? And how–without genetic recombination–have these little guys been able to keep from being wiped out entirely by their arch nemesis: FUNGI? (That’s the fungal mycelium emerging from the rotifer in the picture.)
Bdelloid rotifers are freshwater invertebrates that abandoned sexual reproduction millions of years ago. Coming out next week in the prestigious journal Science, a team of researchers at Cornell University show that cultured populations of bdelloids can rid themselves of a deadly fungal parasite through complete desiccation (anhydrobiosis) and disperse by wind to establish new populations in its absence. Thus, their results may help to explain the persistence of the anciently asexual Bdelloidea.
But wait…there’s more! Check out this link to watch a really cool movie of Rotifers getting eaten alive by their fungal predotors. Strict mycophiles only…not for the mycophobic! (It’s actually really amazing to watch!)