RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Evolution of hybrid inviability associated with chromosome fusions
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2023.11.30.569355
DO 10.1101/2023.11.30.569355
A1 Boman, Jesper
A1 Näsvall, Karin
A1 Vila, Roger
A1 Wiklund, Christer
A1 Backström, Niclas
YR 2023
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/12/01/2023.11.30.569355.abstract
AB Chromosomal rearrangements, such as inversions, have received considerable attention in the speciation literature due to their hampering effects on recombination. However, less is known about how other rearrangements, such as chromosome fissions and fusions, can affect the evolution of reproductive isolation. Here, we used crosses between populations of the wood white butterfly (Leptidea sinapis) with different karyotypes to identify genomic regions associated with hybrid inviability. By contrasting allele frequencies between F2 hybrids that survived until the adult stage with individuals of the same cohort that succumbed to hybrid incompatibilities, we show that candidate loci for hybrid inviability mainly are situated in fast-evolving regions with reduced recombination rates, especially in regions where chromosome fusions have occurred. Our results show that the extensive variation in chromosome numbers observed across the tree of life can be involved in speciation by being hotspots for the early evolution of postzygotic reproductive isolation.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.