The effect of the genetic architecture of reproductive isolation on speciation

• Grant number: 14/10470-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2014
• End date: April 14, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics
• Principal Investigator: Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar
• Grantee: Ayana de Brito Martins
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/26619-2 - The genetic and phenotype architecture of speciation and diversification, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The study of the formation of new species is essential to evolutionary theory, since this is the mechanism that directly generates biodiversity. Although the speciation theory has advanced in the past few years, most models still incorporate many simplifying assumptions regarding the genotypes and phenotypes involved in speciation. The relation between genotype and phenotype is fundamental component of evolutionary theory. While individuals inherit their genotypes from their parents, most evolutionary mechanisms, including mate choice, act on the phenotype. This project proposes a individual-based model in which the genotype-phenotype map of the traits involved in mate choice is considered explicitally. In addition, neutral loci which act as genetic markers and assortative mating, defined by a phenotypic distance above which individuals cannot mate, will be considered. Reproduction will take place locally which will allow the study of different geographical contexts relevant to speciation. This will be achieved by the variation of the radius of the breeding neighborhood. With this approach, we will study how the conditions for speciation depend on the number of traits involved in assortative mating and the geographical context. Furthermore, due to presence of the neutral genetic markers, we will be able to compare the pattern of divergence along the genome resulting from the selection generated by assortative mating to the patterns typically found in natural populations, which are attributted to divergent enviromental selection.

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSTA, CAROLINA L. N.; LEMOS-COSTA, PAULA; MARQUITTI, FLAVIA M. D.; FERNANDES, LUCAS D.; RAMOS, MARLON F.; SCHNEIDER, DAVID M.; MARTINS, AYANA B.; DE AGUIAR, MARCUS A. M.. Signatures of Microevolutionary Processes in Phylogenetic Patterns. Systematic Biology, v. 68, n. 1, p. 131-144, JAN 2019. (15/11985-3, 15/26989-4, 16/06054-3, 16/01343-7, 14/10470-7)

SCHNEIDER, DAVID M.; MARTINS, AYANA B.; DE AGUIAR, MARCUS A. M.. The mutation-drift balance in spatially structured populations. Journal of Theoretical Biology, v. 402, p. 9-17, AUG 7 2016. (14/04036-2, 14/10470-7)

SCHIESARI, LUIS; MATIAS, MIGUEL G.; PRADO, PAULO INACIO; LEIBOLD, MATHEW A.; ALBERT, CECILE H.; HOWETH, JENNIFER G.; LEROUX, SHAWN J.; PARDINI, RENATA; SIQUEIRA, TADEU; BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; et al. Towards an applied metaecology. PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 17, n. 4, p. 172-181, OCT-DEC 2019. (15/18790-3, 15/17984-9, 13/04585-3, 14/10470-7, 13/50424-1)

LEMOS-COSTA, PAULA; MARTINS, AYANA B.; THOMPSON, JOHN N.; DE AGUIAR, MARCUS A. M.. Gene flow and metacommunity arrangement affects coevolutionary dynamics at the mutualism - antagonism interface. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, v. 14, n. 130, MAY 1 2017. (14/10470-7, 16/06054-3)

DE AGUIAR, MARCUS A. M.; SCHNEIDER, DAVID M.; DO CARMO, EDUARDO; CAMPOS, PAULO R. A.; MARTINS, AYANA B.. Error catastrophe in populations under similarity-essential recombination. Journal of Theoretical Biology, v. 374, p. 48-53, JUN 7 2015. (14/04036-2, 14/10470-7, 11/18622-2)