Coping With Poor Genetic Diversity
The natural world has several ways of preserving or increasing genetic diversity. Among oceanic plankton, viruses aid in the genetic shifting process. Ocean viruses, which infect the plankton, carry genes of other organisms in addition to their own. When a virus containing the genes of one cell infects another, the genetic makeup of the latter changes. This constant shift of genetic make-up helps to maintain a healthy population of plankton despite complex and unpredictable environmental changes.
Cheetahs are a threatened species. Extremely low genetic diversity and resulting poor sperm quality has made breeding and survivorship difficult for cheetahs –- only about 5% of cheetahs survive to adulthood. About 10,000 years ago, all but the jubatus species of cheetahs died out. The species encountered a population bottleneck and close family relatives were forced to mate with each other, or inbreed. However, it has been recently discovered that female cheetahs can mate with more than one male per litter of cubs. They undergo induced ovulation, which means that a new egg is produced every time a female mates. By mating with multiple males, the mother increases the genetic diversity within a single litter of cubs.
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