Ciliate protozoa possess the remarkable ability to reproduce through both asexual and sexual means. Their distinctive sexual process involves conjugation and autogamy, and they wield a secret weapon: ...

Conjugation (or mating) of ciliates is a unique phenomenon among living beings. They have sex not for reproduction or pleasure — they seek to increase genetic variation. Scientists from St Petersburg ...

The mating process is one of the most important mechanisms for maintaining genetic variation in natural populations. The emergence of sexual reproduction turned out to be the most important ...

Ciliates are complex unicellular eukaryotes that use different types of nuclei within the same cytoplasm to separate germline and somatic functions 1. The diploid micronuclei (MICs) undergo meiosis to ...