THE PERSISTENCE OF HAPLODIPLOIDY IN ALGAE

Haplodiploid life cycles are especially well represented among the euk aryotic algae. The widespread retention of haplodiploidy among diverse algal groups provides us with the opportunity to consider haplodiploi dy as a stable rather than transitional life history trait and to spec ulate on the selective mechanisms that could be responsible for its pe rsistence. In doing so, we could gain added insights into the evolutio n of sex itself.