Adineta is a genus of rotifers belonging to the family Adinetidae. Species of this genus are found in Europe, Northern America, Australia and southernmost parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
There are currently 19 species discovered with A. vaga having five subspecies:
A. vaga is a species belonging to this genus with four subspecies: A. v. major, A. v. minor, A. v. rhomboidea and A. v. vaga. It is a obligate pathogen. A member of this species was uncovered from permafrost in northeastern Siberia dating to around 24,000 years before present. However it was still alive in a frozen state making it the longest reported case of rotifer survival in a frozen state.
The genome of Adineta vaga is tetraploid. It is comprises mainly of anciently duplicated segments and less divergent allelic regions. ItâÂÂs allelic regions are rearranged and sometimes even found on the same chromosome which is in contrast to sexual species of this genus.
Until recently, it was considered that the reproductive mode of bdelloid rotifers is mitotic parthenogenesis. However, recent research with Adineta vaga now supports a meiotic derived oogenesis with an altered meiosis I stage. During this stage homologous chromosomes associate, likely undergo recombinational repair of DNA damage and then separate, but do not segregate into haploid nuclei.