Barriers to gene flow and ring species formation

Autor(es)

Martins, Ayana de Brito ; Martinez de Aguiar, Marcus Aloizio

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Evolution; v. 71, n. 2, p. 442-448, FEB 2017.
• Citações Web of Science: 3

Resumo

Ring species are groups of organisms that dispersed along a ring-shaped region in such a way that the two ends of the population that meet after many generations are reproductively isolated. They provide a rare opportunity to understand the role of spatial structuring in speciation. Here, we simulate the evolution of ring species assuming that individuals become sexually isolated if the genetic distance between them is above a certain threshold. The model incorporates two forms of dispersal limitation: exogenous geographic barriers that limit the population range and endogenous barriers that result in genetic structuring within the population range. As expected, species' properties that reduce gene flow within the population range facilitate the evolution of reproductive isolation and ring species formation. However, if populations are confined to narrow ranges by geographic barriers, ring species formation increases when local mating is less spatially restricted. Ring species are most likely to form if a population expands while confined to a quasi-unidimensional range but preserving high mobility in the direction of the range expansion. These conditions are unlikely to be met or persist in real populations and may explain why ring species are rare. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 16/06054-3 - Dinâmica de populações espacialmente distribuídas: especiação e coevolução
• Beneficiário: Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 10/10155-3 - Modelos de especiação espacialmente explícitos: formação de anéis de espécies e o papel do cromossomo sexual no isolamento reprodutivo
• Beneficiário: Ayana de Brito Martins
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado