• Nasonia;   • meiosis;   • arthropods;   • phylogenomics;   •
arrhenotoky   The parasitoid jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis
reproduces by haplodiploidy (arrhenotokous parthenogenesis). In
diploid females, meiosis occurs during oogenesis, but in haploid
males spermatogenesis is ameiotic and involves a single
equational division. Here we describe the phylogenomic
distribution of meiotic genes in N. vitripennis and in 10
additional arthropods. Homologues for 39 meiosis-related genes
(including seven meiosis-specific genes) were identified in N.
vitripennis. The meiotic genes missing from N. vitripennis are
also sporadically absent in other arthropods, suggesting that
certain meiotic genes are dispensable for meiosis. Among an
additional set of 15 genes thought to be specific for male
meiosis in Drosophila, two genes (bol and crl) were identified
in N. vitripennis and Apis mellifera (both for which canonical
meiosis is absent in males) and in other arthropods. The
distribution of meiotic genes across arthropods an