Somatic assortment across successive amitotic divisions in Paramecium tetraurelia (strain d12)

During vegetative growth Paramecium tetraurelia undergoes a spindle-independent mode of macronuclear division known as amitosis. This asymmetric form of cell division may lead to changes in allele frequencies and since the cell phenotype in ciliates is determined by the macronucleus, somatic assortment may ultimately lead to phenotypic assortment. Single cell sequencing offers a powerful approach to directly test the extent to which amitosis impacts segregation of somatic alleles without relying on phenotypic traits, something which is currently lacking. Thus, to investigate somatic assortment across successive amitotic divisions in Paramecium tetraurelia (strain d12) we sequenced vegetatively growing single cells collected in quadruplicates at three timepoints after autogamy, as well as the clonal parental mass culture population from which all the single cells derived.