Sex without crossovers mimics clonal reproduction in the holocentric plant Rhynchospora tenuis
Meng Zhang, Marco Castellani, Stefan Steckenborn, Maciej Majka, Georgios Tsipas, Thiago Henrique Nascimento, Ulla Neumann, Gokilavani Thangavel, Laura Ávila Robledillo, Thomas M. Lux, Lorraine Deberon, Ursula Pfordt, José Antonio Campoy, Athul Vijayan, Ton Timmers, , André Marques
This study shows that Rhynchospora tenuis undergoes obligate achiasmy in both sexes, leading to clonal-like inheritance through post-meiotic selection and TE-driven segregation distortion.
bioRxiv · Jan 22, 2026 · PreprintEvolutionary Biology