UBIQUITOUS HOMOLOGOUS RECOMBINATION. “Most evidence suggests that homologous recombination evolved long before meiosis, as it occurs in all domains of life and involves proteins that share strong homology, but the origins and selective advantage of synapsis, gene conversion and recombination remain poorly understood.”
http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2016/04/28/050831.full.pdf