The genetic basis of reproductive isolation: Insights from Drosophila
Abstract
Recent studies of the genetics of speciation in Drosophila have focused on two problems: (i) identifying and characterizing the genes that cause reproductive isolation, and (ii) determining the evolutionary forces that drove the divergence of these "speciation genes." Here, I review this work. I conclude that speciation genes correspond to ordinary loci having normal functions within species. These genes fall into several functional classes, although a role in transcriptional regulation could prove particularly common. More important, speciation genes are typically very rapidly evolving, and this divergence is often driven by positive Darwinian selection. Finally, I review recent work in Drosophila pseudoobscura on the possible role of meiotic drive in the evolution of the genes that cause postzygotic isolation.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- May 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.0501893102
- Bibcode:
- 2005PNAS..102.6522O