Ticks are among the most important vectors of pathogens affecting humans and other
animals worldwide. They do not only carry pathogens however, as a diverse group of …

Wolbachia are the most abundant bacterial endosymbionts among arthropods. Although
maternally inherited, they do not conform to the widespread view that vertical transmission …

Sexual reproduction is a fundamental aspect of life. It is defined by the occurrence of meiosis
and the fusion of two gametes of different sexes or mating types. Sex-determination …

The canonical model of sex-chromosome evolution predicts that, as recombination is
suppressed along sex chromosomes, gametologs will progressively differentiate, eventually …

Although sex is a fundamental component of eukaryotic reproduction, the genetic systems
that control sex determination are highly variable. In many organisms the presence of sex …

Insects harbor a tremendous diversity of sex determining mechanisms both within and
between groups. For example, in some orders such as Hymenoptera, all members are …

The Wolbachia endosymbionts encompass a large group of intracellular bacteria of
biomedical and veterinary relevance, closely related to Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and …

Microsporidia cause important diseases in aquatic organisms. Susceptible hosts span a
remarkable taxonomic spectrum, from protists to mammals. Known genera represent a small …

Wolbachia is one of the most abundant endosymbionts on earth, with a wide distribution
especially in arthropods. Effective maternal transmission and the induction of various …

Abstract Fifty years ago, Lynn Margulis, inspiring in early twentieth-century ideas that put
forward a symbiotic origin for some eukaryotic organelles, proposed a unified theory for the …