Allelic inheritance in naturally occurring parthenogenetic offspringof the gonochoric sea star Patiria miniata

摘要

In laboratory studies of fertilization using the gonochoric broadcast-spawning as-terinid sea star Patiria miniata, we found many cases in which some mature eggs spawned byfemales formed cleavage-stage embryos and feeding bipinnaria larvae without fertilization bysperm. Segregation of maternal microsatellite alleles among the parthenogenetic offspring ofknown heterozygous females was consistent with several specific modes of asexual reproduc-tion, including polar body suppression. Cryptic outcrossing by sperm contamination wasruled out by the failure to observe non-maternal alleles. The potential for asexual reproduc-tion by the normally outcrossing members of P. miniata may suggest a shared propensity forasexuality among asterinid species from several clades in which isolated adults can produceoffspring without outcrossing.