Hybrid Conflicts · Speciation and hybridization: a sex chromosome perspective

Speciation and hybridization: a sex chromosome perspective

Speciation is frequent and ongoing, and has resulted in millions of species. Nevertheless, the speciation process has proven difficult to disentangle because several evolutionary processes—including genetic drift, selection and admixture—may co-occur during divergence, leaving similar genomic footprints. Here, we address what happens genetically when a pair of closely related sister species of damselflies meet in secondary contact. We are particularly interested in whether genes located on the sex chromosome play a key role for evolution of reproductive isolation during hybridization and speciation. The central theme of this project—the origin of species boundaries in two hybridizing sister insect species—is a hot topic of discussion in the scientific as well as the non-scientific society. Evolution happening on an ecological timescale is not well understood by the community, yet speaks to the imagination. Also the origin of species is a classic theme in biology, which can be associated with the founding father of evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin. Therefore, our research and its possible outcomes will captivate a broad interest. The overall objective of this research is to determine the factors that lead to heterogeneity in genomic divergence between species and the characterisation of loci that are associated with pre- and postzygotic barriers to gene exchange. Specifically, we seek to clarify the role of sexual selection and the X-chromosome in the origin of reproductive barriers across the recently established hybrid zone of a pair of damselfly sister species (Ischnura elegans and I. graellsii). Closely related hybridizing species offer the possibility unique insights into the role of ecology and gene flow in the speciation process.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз