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The contribution of post-copulatory mechanisms to incipient ecological speciation in sticklebacks.

Joshka KaufmannChristophe EizaguirreManfred MilinskiTobias L Lenz
Published in: Biology letters (2015)
Ecology can play a major role in species diversification. As individuals are adapting to contrasting habitats, reproductive barriers may evolve at multiple levels. While pre-mating barriers have been extensively studied, the evolution of post-mating reproductive isolation during early stages of ecological speciation remains poorly understood. In diverging three-spined stickleback ecotypes from two lakes and two rivers, we observed differences in sperm traits between lake and river males. Interestingly, these differences did not translate into ecotype-specific gamete precedence for sympatric males in competitive in vitro fertilization experiments, potentially owing to antagonistic compensatory effects. However, we observed indirect evidence for impeded development of inter-ecotype zygotes, possibly suggesting an early stage of genetic incompatibility between ecotypes. Our results show that pre-zygotic post-copulatory mechanisms play a minor role during this first stage of ecotype divergence, but suggest that genetic incompatibilities may arise at early stages of ecological speciation.
Keyphrases
  • early stage
  • genome wide
  • climate change
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  • copy number
  • gene expression
  • risk assessment
  • squamous cell carcinoma
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  • sentinel lymph node