Parasitic nematodes that cause greatest agricultural damage abandoned sex

The nematode worms that cause the world’s most devastating crop losses have given up on sexual reproduction and instead rely on their large, duplicated genomes to thrive in new environments. A group led by Etienne G. J. Danchin of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) report these findings in a new study published June 8, 2017 in PLOS Genetics.