ujvari-transmissablecancer-2019.pdf (1010.3 kB)
Transmissible cancer and the evolution of sex
journal contribution
posted on 2019-06-06, 00:00 authored by F Thomas, Thomas MadsenThomas Madsen, M Giraudeau, D Misse, R Hamede, O Vincze, F Renaud, B Roche, Beata UjvariBeata UjvariThe origin and subsequent maintenance of sex and recombination are among the most elusive and controversial problems in evolutionary biology. Here, we propose a novel hypothesis, suggesting that sexual reproduction not only evolved to reduce the negative effects of the accumulation of deleterious mutations and processes associated with pathogen and/or parasite resistance but also to prevent invasion by transmissible selfish neoplastic cheater cells, henceforth referred to as transmissible cancer cells. Sexual reproduction permits systematic change of the multicellular organism's genotype and hence an enhanced detection of transmissible cancer cells by immune system. Given the omnipresence of oncogenic processes in multicellular organisms, together with the fact that transmissible cancer cells can have dramatic effects on their host fitness, our scenario suggests that the benefits of sex and concomitant recombination will be large and permanent, explaining why sexual reproduction is, despite its costs, the dominant mode of reproduction among eukaryotes.
History
Journal
PLoS biologyVolume
17Issue
6Article number
e3000275Pagination
1 - 9Publisher
Public Library of ScienceLocation
San Francisco, Calif.Publisher DOI
Link to full text
eISSN
1545-7885Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2019, Thomas et al.Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Transmissible cancerSexual reproductionParasite evolutionEvolutionary immunologyOrganismal evolutionEvolutionary biologyAsexual reproductionEukaryotaNeoplastic transformationScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineBiochemistry & Molecular BiologyBiologyLife Sciences & Biomedicine - Other TopicsCELL PARASITISMMULTICELLULARITYLEUKEMIADYNAMICSCOMMONPLANTSCOSTS
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC