A virgin birth for Christmas?
As you raise a glass of Christmas cheer, spare a thought for Flora the Komodo dragon. The anxious mother-to-be is waiting for eight offspring to hatch, each and every one a virgin conception.Parthenogenesis, the production of offspring without fertilization by a male, is rare in vertebrate species. Now Phillip C. Watts and colleagues have used genetic fingerprinting to identify parthenogenetic offspring produced by two female Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) that had been kept at separate institutions away from males. Their findings are reported in Nature this week, as the Brief Communications bow out with a Christmas theme.Flora, who lives at Chester Zoo in the UK, produced a clutch of eleven viable eggs earlier this year. Three collapsed early during incubation, providing embryonic material for DNA tests. The remaining eight eggs are developing normally and are expected to hatch in January 2007.Another captive-bred female, London Zoo's Sungai, managed to produce four viable offspring more than two years after her last contact with a male, and subsequently has produced additional offspring sexually. This reproductive plasticity suggests that female Komodo dragons can switch between asexual and sexual reproduction, depending on the availability of a mate - a finding that has implications for breeding this threatened species in captivity. Most zoos keep only females, and males are moved between zoos for mating, but perhaps they should be kept together to avoid triggering parthenogenesis and decreasing genetic diversity.
CONTACTPhillip C. Watts (University of Liverpool, UK)Please note that this author is unavailable, please contact:Richard Gibson (Zoological Society of London, UK) Co-authorPlease contact through Emma Kenly (Press Office, Zoological Society of London, UK)Tel: +44 20 7449 6280; E-mail: emma.kenly@zsl.org Kevin">mailto:emma.kenly@zsl.org>Kevin R. Buley (Chester Zoo, Upton-by-Chester, UK) Co-authorPlease contact through Rachael Ashton (PR and Media Manager, Chester Zoo, UK)Tel: +44 1244 389460 or 07958 103515; E-mail: R.Ashton@chesterzoo.org mailto:R.Ashton@chesterzoo.org