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“Know thyself”
Author(s) -
Sutton Keith A.,
Jungnickel Melissa K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/mrd.21350
Subject(s) - biology , ciona intestinalis , allorecognition , gamete , ciona , sperm , evolutionary biology , mating system , genetics , zoology , mating , immune system , gene , t cell
Sage advice, particularly if you are a hermaphrodite organism seeking to take advantage of sexual reproduction. Promotion of out-breeding requires that male gametes do not fertilize the eggs being released from the same organism, or only do so at very low effi ciency. This problem impacts a variety of organisms from fl owering plants (Rea & Nasrallah, 2008) to ascidians, the sea squirts. Indeed the basic process is equally fundamental to the vertebrate immune response (Burnet, 1971). Interestingly the receptor/ligand pairs that mediate gamete self/non-self discrimination (allorecognition) are not phylogenetically conserved, indicating that these systems are a striking example of convergent evolution.