Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Hybrid speciation”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

Speciation as a positive feedback loop between postzygotic and prezygotic barriers to gene flow.

Speciation is intimately associated with the evolution of sex-and-reproduction-related traits, including those affecting hybrid incompatibility (postzygotic isolation) and species recognition (prezygotic isolation). Genes controlling such traits are not randomly distributed in the genome but are particularly abundant on the sex chromosomes. However, the evolutionary consequences of the sex linkage of genes involved in speciation have been little explored. Here, we present simulations of a continent-island diploid model that examines the effects of reduced recombination using both autosomal and sex-linked inheritance. We show first that linkage between genes affecting postzygotic and prezygotic isolation leads to a positive feedback loop in which both are strengthened. As species recognition evolves, genes causing hybrid incompatibility will hitchhike along with those improving premating isolation, leading to stronger hybrid incompatibility and thus increased pressure for further preference divergence. Second, we show that this loop effect is generally enhanced by sex linkage, because recombination is eliminated in the heterogametic sex, leading to tighter effective linkage between the two classes of genes and because natural selection is more efficient at sex-linked loci, as recessive alleles are not masked by dominance in the heterogametic sex. Accordingly, hitchhiking can be important in promoting speciation and can also lead to increased postzygotic isolation through adaptive evolution.

Adaptation, Biological↗

Identification of a male meiosis-specific gene, Tcte2, which is differentially spliced in species that form sterile hybrids with laboratory mice and deleted in t chromosomes showing meiotic drive.

Tcte2 (t complex testes expressed 2) is a male meiosis-specific gene that maps to band 3.3 of mouse chromosome 17. Two distinct male fertility defects, hybrid sterility and transmission ratio distortion, have previously been mapped to this region. Hybrid sterility arises in crosses between different mouse species and the F1 generation males have defects in the first meiotic division and are sterile. Transmission ratio distortion is shown by males heterozygous for the t haplotype form of chromosome 17 and is a type of meiotic drive in which male gametes function unequally at fertilization. The Tcte2 gene expresses a coding mRNA and a number of putative non-ORF transcripts in meiosis I. A deletion of the 5' part of the locus abolishes Tcte2 expression on the t haplotype form of chromosome 17. Additionally, the series of putative non-ORF RNAs at the Tcte2 locus are differentially spliced in species that show hybrid sterility when crossed to laboratory mice. The identification of polymorphisms in t haplotypes and in different mouse species allows alleles of Tcte2 to be proposed as candidates for loci which contribute to both meiotic drive and hybrid sterility phenotypes. While theoretical considerations have previously been used to propose that speciation and meiotic drive involve alleles of the same genes, Tcte2 is the first cloned candidate gene to support this link at a molecular level.

Animals↗

Reinforcement and divergence under assortative mating.

Traits that cause assortative mating such as the flowering time in plants and body size in animals can produce reproductive isolation between hybridizing populations. Can selection against unfit hybrids cause two populations to diverge in their mean values for these kinds of traits? Here I present a haploid analytical model of one population that receives gene flow from another. The partial pre-zygotic isolation between the two populations is caused by assortative mating for a trait that is influenced by any number of genes with additive effects. The post-zygotic isolation is caused by selection against genetic incompatibilities that can involve any form of selection on individual genes and gene combinations (epistasis). The analysis assumes that the introgression rate and selection coefficients are small. The results show that the assortment trait mean will not diverge from the immigrants unless there is direct selection on the trait favouring it to do so or there are genes of very large effect. The amount of divergence at equilibrium is determined by a balance between direct selection on the assortment trait and introgression from the other population. Additional selection against hybrid genetic incompatibilities reduces the effective migration rate and allows greater divergence. The role of assortment in speciation is discussed in the light of these results.

Animals↗

Studies on the human chromosome 3 centromere with a newly cloned alphoid DNA probe.

Starting from a chromosome-specific DNA library, we have isolated a human chromosome-specific satellite DNA sequence. This sequence of 635 base pairs (bp) consists of 3.7 alpha DNA monomers of 170-171 bp. Under high stringency it hybridizes to the centromere of chromosome 3 in a region composed of 2,750 bp tandem repeats characterized by the regular spacing of Hind III and TaqI restriction enzyme recognition sites. It has diverged and undergone amplification after the human speciation. The amplification allows an easy monitoring of the chromosome 3 centromere by in situ hybridization with a nonradioactive probe.

Animals↗

Cassava, Manihot esculenta Crantz, genetic resources: origin of the crop, its evolution and relationships with wild relatives.

About 98 species of Manihot are known. All of them are native to the New World and are concentrated in four regions in Brazil and Central America. All the Manihot species so far examined have 2n = 36 chromosomes. Interspecific hybrids between cassava and its wild relatives show relatively normal meiosis, and further generations can be obtained. Electrophoresis shows affinity among wild species of different sections, and between some of them and cassava. Both polyploidy and apomixis may have contributed to speciation in this genus. Polyploidy produced genetic variability, while apomixis is responsible for perpetuating new hybrid types adapted to different environments. Cassava may have originated by hybridization between two wild Manihot species, followed by vegetative reproduction of the hybrid.

Biological Evolution↗

Genomic islands of differentiation between house mouse subspecies.

Understanding the genes that contribute to reproductive isolation is essential to understanding speciation, but isolating such genes has proven very difficult. In this study I apply a multilocus test statistic to >10,000 SNP markers assayed in wild-derived inbred strains of house mice to identify genomic regions of elevated differentiation between two subspecies of house mice, Mus musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus. Differentiation was high through approximately 90% of the X chromosome. In addition, eight regions of high differentiation were identified on the autosomes, totaling 7.5% of the autosomal genome. Regions of high differentiation were confirmed by direct sequencing of samples collected from the wild. Some regions of elevated differentiation have an overrepresentation of genes with host-pathogen interactions and olfaction. The most strongly differentiated region on the X has previously been shown to fail to introgress across a hybrid zone between the two subspecies. This survey indicates autosomal regions that should also be examined for differential introgression across the hybrid zone, as containing potential genes causing hybrid unfitness.

Animals↗

Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary traits in Ranunculus s.l. (Ranunculaceae) inferred from ITS sequence analysis.

Ranunculus is a large genus with a worldwide distribution. Phylogenetic analyses of c. 200 species of Ranunculus s.l. based on sequences of the nrITS using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference yielded high congruence with previous cpDNA restriction site analyses, but strongly contradict previous classifications. A large core clade including Ranunculus subg. Ranunculus, subg. Batrachium, subg. Crymodes p.p., Ceratocephala, Myosurus, and Aphanostemma is separated from R. subg. Ficaria, subg. Pallasiantha, subg. Coptidium, subg. Crymodes p.p., Halerpestes, Peltocalathos, Callianthemoides, and Arcteranthis. Within the core clade, 19 clades can be described with morphological and karyological features. Several sections are not monophyletic. Parallel evolution of morphological characters in adaptation to climatic conditions may be a reason for incongruence of molecular data and morphology-based classifications. In some mountainous regions, groups of closely related species may have originated from adaptive radiation and rapid speciation. Split decomposition analysis indicated complex patterns of relationship and suggested hybridization in the apomictic R. auricomus complex, R. subg. Batrachium, and the white-flowering European alpines. The evolutionary success of the genus might be due to a combination of morphological plasticity and adaptations, hybridization and polyploidy as important factors for regional diversification, and a broad range of reproductive strategies.

DNA, Plant↗

Allopolyploid origin of Cardamine asarifolia (Brassicaceae): incongruence between plastid and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences solved by a single-copy nuclear gene.

Interspecific hybridization and polyploidization have played central roles in plant diversification. However, technical difficulties in the analyses of low-copy genes have limited the study of the origins of hybrid and polyploid plants. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of the hexaploid Cardamine asarifolia, distributed in the southern European Alps and northern Apennines. Our study included all relevant taxa of the genus found in Europe. A marked discrepancy was revealed between the trnL-trnF region of cpDNA and internal transcribed spacer (nrDNA ITS) sequences. To solve the incongruence, we sequenced a single-copy nuclear CHS gene (chalcone synthase) using a novel method to design homoeologue-specific PCR primers to bypass artefacts caused by artificial recombination of homoeologues during PCR and/or cloning. Three homoeologues were isolated from C. asarifolia, providing evidence for its allopolyploid origin. One homoeologue, showing the same phylogenetic position as the ITS sequences, most likely originated from an extinct parent. Furthermore, we documented recurrent polytopic hybridizations between C. asarifolia and diploid C. amara. The allohexaploidization and the following hybridization with a diploid species exemplify the ongoing dynamic processes of speciation in the genus Cardamine.

Acyltransferases↗

Legionella drozanskii sp. nov., Legionella rowbothamii sp. nov. and Legionella fallonii sp. nov.: three unusual new Legionella species.

Seven strains of Legionella-like amoebal pathogens (LLAPs) were characterized on the basis of their cultural and staining characteristics, biochemical reactions, serology, cellular fatty acids (CFAs), isoprenoid quinone composition, total DNA relatedness, analysis of 16S rRNA and macrophage infectivity potentiator (mip) gene sequence analyses. All seven strains exhibited limited growth on buffered charcoal yeast extract alpha (BCYE) agar, required cysteine for growth and contained branched-chain CFAs and quinones typical of Legionella species. The bacilli were Gram-negative and catalase-positive. There were varying degrees of serological cross-reactions between these LLAP strains and other previously described Legionella species. Results from the various tests revealed that four LLAP strains represent three unusual new species of Legionella: Legionella drozanskii sp. nov., type strain LLAP-1T; Legionella rowbothamii sp. nov., type strain LLAP-6T; and Legionella fallonii sp. nov., type strain LLAP-10T. Three other LLAP strains, designated LLAP-7FL, LLAP-7NF and LLAP-9, were shown to be members of the species Legionella lytica. The deductions made from the phenetic characteristics of these bacteria were consistent with the phylogenetic relationships inferred from 16S rRNA and mip gene sequence analyses. This study is the first to speciate LLAP strains on the basis of data including quantitative DNA hybridization.

Acanthamoeba↗

Organ-specific silencing of duplicated genes in a newly synthesized cotton allotetraploid.

Most eukaryotes have undergone genome doubling at least once during their evolutionary history. Hybridization followed by genome doubling (allopolyploidization) is a prominent mode of speciation in plants, leading to phenotypic novelty and changes in genome structure and gene expression. Molecular events that take place immediately after polyploid formation can be studied using newly synthesized allopolyploids. Here we studied the extent of gene silencing in a newly created and genomically stable allotetraploid cotton, of genotype AAGG, using an AFLP-cDNA display screen. Over 2000 transcripts were screened and approximately 5% of the duplicated genes in the allotetraploid were inferred to have been silenced or downregulated. Sequencing of 24 AFLP-cDNA fragments revealed genes with a variety of functions. Analysis by RT-PCR showed silencing or a strong expression bias toward one copy for 9 of 13 genes examined. Comparisons of expression patterns among eight organs in the allopolyploid showed that silencing and preferential expression are organ specific. Examination of silencing patterns in two other synthetic polyploids, of genotype AADD, showed that the same gene can be silenced independently in different genotypes. These results provide a detailed portrayal of gene silencing events that can occur following allopolyploidization and suggest epigenetic causal factors.

Base Sequence↗

Hybridization and postzygotic isolation patterns in pigeons and doves.

The study of the patterns of reproductive isolation in relation to species divergence is critical for the understanding of the process of speciation. Comparative analyses of this kind were previously conducted in Drosophila, Lepidoptera, frogs, ducks, and birds in general. In the present study, we used information from the literature to analyze hybrid inviability in relation to species divergence in pigeons and doves. Four main patterns arose from this analysis: (1) as in the other groups studied, F1 hybrid inviability gradually increases as species diverge, the time needed to reach total inviability being higher in birds than in the other groups; (2) as expected, the presence of geographic overlap does not influence the evolution of postzygotic isolation; (3) the percentage of unhatched eggs does not differ between hybrids of the first generation and the backcrosses, but it increases in the second hybrid generation; and (4) pigeons and doves follow Haldane's rule, as found in the other groups studied so far. The similarity between the results of this and previous studies contributes to the growing evidence suggesting that the patterns of the evolution of postzygotic isolation, and the process of speciation in general, are shared among animal groups.

Animals↗

Epistasis and hybrid sterility in Saccharomyces.

Hybrid sterility is thought to be due to deleterious epistatic interactions between genes from different species. Here we demonstrate that dominant genic incompatibility does not contribute to sterility in hybrids between Saccharomyces cerevisiae and five closely related species. Sterile diploids were made fertile by genome doubling to produce hybrid tetraploids. Based on these and previous results, we conclude that neither genic incompatibility nor classical chromosomal speciation models apply.

Crosses, Genetic↗

Strong selection against hybrids at a hybrid zone in the Ensatina ring species complex and its evolutionary implications.

The analysis of interactions between lineages at varying levels of genetic divergence can provide insights into the process of speciation through the accumulation of incompatible mutations. Ring species, and especially the Ensatina eschscholtzii system exemplify this approach. The plethodontid salamanders E. eschscholtzii xanthoptica and E. eschscholtzii platensis hybridize in the central Sierran foothills of California. We compared the genetic structure across two transects (southern and northern Calaveras Co.), one of which was resampled over 20 years, and examined diagnostic molecular markers (eight allozyme loci and mitochondrial DNA) and a diagnostic quantitative trait (color pattern). Key results across all studies were: (1) cline centers for all markers were coincident and the zones were narrow, with width estimates of 730 m to 2000 m; (2) cline centers at the northern Calaveras transect were coincident between 1981 and 2001, demonstrating repeatability over five generations; (3) there were very few if any putative F1s, but a relatively high number of backcrossed individuals in the central portion of transects; and (4) we found substantial linkage disequilibrium in all three studies and strong heterozygote deficit both in northern Calaveras, in 2001, and southern Calaveras. Both linkage disequilibrium and heterozygote deficit showed maximum values near the center of the zones. Using estimates of cline width and dispersal, we infer strong selection against hybrids. This is sufficient to promote accumulation of differences at loci that are neutral or under divergent selection, but would still allow for introgression of adaptive alleles. The evidence for strong but incomplete isolation across this centrally located contact is consistent with theory suggesting a gradual increase in postzygotic incompatibility between allopatric populations subject to divergent selection and reinforces the value of Ensatina as a system for the study of divergence and speciation at multiple stages.

Animals↗

Recombination and the divergence of hybridizing species.

The interplay between hybridization and recombination can have a dramatic effect on the likelihood of speciation or persistence of incompletely isolated species. Many models have suggested recombination can oppose speciation, and several recent empirical investigations suggest that reductions in recombination between various components of reproductive isolation and/or adaptation can allow species to persist in the presence of gene flow. In this article, we discuss these ideas in relation to speciation models, phylogenetic analyses, and species concepts. In particular, we revisit genetic architectures and population mechanisms that create genetic correlations and facilitate divergence in the face of gene flow. Linkage among genes contributing to adaptation or reproductive isolation due to chromosomal rearrangements as well as pleiotropy or proximity of loci can greatly increase the odds of species divergence or persistence. Finally, we recommend recombination to be a focus of inquiry when studying the origins of biological diversity.

Biological Evolution↗

Sexual imprinting, learning and speciation

Learned mate preferences may play an important role in speciation. Sexual imprinting is a process whereby mate preferences are affected by learning at a very young age, usually using a parent as the model. We suggest that while the origins of learning appear to lie in the advantages of individual recognition, sexual imprinting results from selection for recognition of conspecifics. This is because efficient early learning about one's own species is favoured in the presence of heterospecifics. If different species are hybridizing, both sexual imprinting and learning to avoid heterospecifics during adulthood promote assortative mating and hence speciation. As a result of sexual imprinting, speciation may also be completed in allopatry when divergence between populations is sufficient to prevent interbreeding when the populations reunite, even in the absence of genetic evolution of mate preference. The role of behaviour and learning in completing the speciation process is relatively overlooked. In particular the evolution of sexual imprinting as a result of selection against hybridization warrants more study.

Journal Article↗

Intraparental gamete competition provides a selective advantage for the development of hybrid sterility via meiotic drive.

Hybrid sterility can have evolutionary significance and varies substantially by taxon, but few models attempt to predict or explain this variability. Hybrid sterility is commonly observed and develops early in isolation, at odds with straightforward models that predict it would develop slowly and rarely be seen. Meiotic drive might explain the rapid development of hybrid sterility, but drive is rarely observed, modifiers are expected to repress it, and no precise testable predictions are available. Here I develop population genetic models for the establishment of meiotic drive based on how it spreads by benefiting carrier gametes competing with noncarrier gametes from the same parent, or intraparental gamete competition. The resulting models predict that meiotic drive can often produce substantial hybrid sterility over time even in the presence of repressors, yet observable drive will be rare. They also make quantitative predictions of the degree of sterility based on observable parameters of reproductive ecology, including frequency of multiple mating, effective dispersal of offspring, and population size. Finally, they suggest explanations for the association of heterochromatin changes with speciation. Experimental evidence is discussed showing that drive alleles at least sometimes contribute to hybrid sterility.

Computer Simulation↗

Ancient tetraploidy and slow molecular evolution in Scaphiophryne: ecological correlates of speciation mode in Malagasy relict amphibians.

Karyotypes of three microhylid frog species of the Malagasy relict genus Scaphiophryne were studied: Scaphiophryne gottlebei, S. madagascariensis and S. spinosa. The latter two showed a plesiomorphic ranoid karyotype of 2n = 26. In contrast, tetraploidy was demonstrated in S. gottlebei, which constitutes an exceptional state among Malagasy amphibians. A combination of different banding techniques and of rDNA-FISH provided evidence for allopolyploidy in the species and for a completed subsequent functional and structural diploidization. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences revealed a significant deceleration of nucleotide substitution rates in Scaphiophryne. The tetraploidy of S. gottlebei probably occurred early in their radiation. Ecological and behavioural patterns of Scaphiophryne probably favoured intraspecific gene flow and hybridization events, thereby leading to slow molecular substitution rates and to allopolyploid chromosome speciation in S. gottlebei.

Animals↗

Speciation by reinforcement: a model derived from studies of Drosophila.

Reinforcement is an increase in premating reproductive isolation between taxa resulting from selection against hybrids. We present a model of reinforcement with a novel type of selection on female mating behavior. Previous models of reinforcement have focused on the divergence of female mating preferences between nascent species. We suggest that an increase in the level of female mating discrimination can yield reinforcement without further divergence of either male characters or female preferences. This model indicates that selection on mating discrimination is a viable mechanism for reinforcement and may allow speciation under less stringent conditions than selection on female preference. This model also incorporates empirical results from genetic studies of hybrid fitness determination in Drosophila species. We find that the details of inheritance, which include sex-linked transmission, sex-limited fertility reduction, and X-autosome epistasis, have important effects on the likelihood of reinforcement. In particular, X-autosome epistasis for hybrid fitness determination facilitates reinforcement when hybrid fertility reduction occurs in males, but hinders the process when it occurs in females. HALDANE's rule indicates that hybrid sterility will generally evolve in males prior to females within nascent species. Thus, HALDANE's rule and X-autosome epistasis provide conditions that are surprisingly favorable for reinforcement in Drosophila.

Animals↗