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Immigrant inviability produces a strong barrier to gene flow between parapatric ecotypes of Senecio lautus
Author(s) -
Richards Thomas J.,
OrtizBarrientos Daniel
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/evo.12936
Subject(s) - biology , parapatric speciation , reproductive isolation , gene flow , genetic algorithm , evolutionary biology , hybrid zone , isolation by distance , hybrid , ecotype , ecology , ecological speciation , genetics , gene , population , genetic variation , botany , demography , sociology
Speciation proceeds when gene exchange is prevented between populations. Determining the different barriers preventing gene flow can therefore give insights into the factors driving and maintaining species boundaries. These reproductive barriers may result from intrinsic genetic incompatibilities between populations, from extrinsic environmental differences between populations, or a combination of both mechanisms. We investigated the potential barriers to gene exchange between three adjacent ecotypes of an Australian wildflower to determine the strength of individual barriers and the degree of overall isolation between populations. We found almost complete isolation between the three populations mainly due to premating extrinsic barriers. Intrinsic genetic barriers were weak and variable among populations. There were asymmetries in some intrinsic barriers due to the origin of cytoplasm in hybrids. Overall, these results suggest that reproductive isolation between these three populations is almost complete despite the absence of geographic barriers, and that the main drivers of this isolation are ecologically based, consistent with the mechanisms underlying ecological speciation.

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