Transgenerational chromosome repair in the asexual bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga
Abstract
Homologous recombination plays a fundamental role in the evolution of organisms. It serves as a DNA repair mechanism which, in sexual organisms, contributes to genetic diversity through the shuffling of alleles during meiosis. Here we investigate the two functions of homologous recombination in the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga , an ancient asexual species also known for its tolerance to extreme genotoxic stresses. Genomic analyses reveal that A. vaga retained meiotic recombination mechanisms, both for DNA repair and occurrence of spontaneous crossovers during oogenesis. Our study introduces a novel transgenerational DNA repair mechanism termed break-induced homologous extension repair (BIHER). BIHER operates on single DNA ends, enabling the repair of fragmented chromosomes. Our findings suggest that the BIHER mechanism, combined with a holocentric structure of chromosomes and a modified meiosis, constitutes a key adaptation for life in extreme environments. Identifying such a mechanism in bdelloid rotifers sheds a new light on the strategies that evolved to maintain genome structure in asexually reproducing species.
Related
- The nuclear Argonaute HRDE-1 broadly interacts with euchromatin via an RGG domain to enable transgenerational epigenetic silencing
- Temperature during conidiophore development primes Aspergillus fumigatus spore transcriptome for asexual or sexual reproduction
- TDP-43 regulates mitochondrial dsRNA accumulation and chromosome territory formation during prophase I of Drosophila male meiosis
- Oxidative DNA damage drives centromere fragility and chromosome instability
- The Emirati pangenome featuring a diploid chromosome-level reference
BibTeX
@article{houtain2026transgenerational,
title = {{Transgenerational chromosome repair in the asexual bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga}},
author = {Antoine Houtain and Marc Llirós Dupré and Boris Hespeels and Émilien Nicolas and Paul Simion and Julie Virgo and Anne-Catherine Heuskin and Thomas Lenormand and Bernard Hallet and Karine van Doninck},
journal = {Science Advances},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aee0891},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-04736692v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Transgenerational chromosome repair in the asexual bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga
AU - Antoine Houtain
AU - Marc Llirós Dupré
AU - Boris Hespeels
AU - Émilien Nicolas
AU - Paul Simion
AU - Julie Virgo
AU - Anne-Catherine Heuskin
AU - Thomas Lenormand
AU - Bernard Hallet
AU - Karine van Doninck
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
JO - Science Advances
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aee0891
UR - https://hal.science/hal-04736692v1
AB - Homologous recombination plays a fundamental role in the evolution of organisms. It serves as a DNA repair mechanism which, in sexual organisms, contributes to genetic diversity through the shuffling of alleles during meiosis. Here we investigate the two functions of homologous recombination in the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga , an ancient asexual species also known for its tolerance to extreme genotoxic stresses. Genomic analyses reveal that A. vaga retained meiotic recombination mechanisms, both for DNA repair and occurrence of spontaneous crossovers during oogenesis. Our study introduces a novel transgenerational DNA repair mechanism termed break-induced homologous extension repair (BIHER). BIHER operates on single DNA ends, enabling the repair of fragmented chromosomes. Our findings suggest that the BIHER mechanism, combined with a holocentric structure of chromosomes and a modified meiosis, constitutes a key adaptation for life in extreme environments. Identifying such a mechanism in bdelloid rotifers sheds a new light on the strategies that evolved to maintain genome structure in asexually reproducing species.
SN - 2375-2548
ER -