CAN GENE FLOW PREVENT REINFORCEMENT?

Reinforcement Can Overcome Gene Flow during Speciation in Drosophila

Reinforcement, the strengthening of prezygotic reproductive isolation by natural selection in response to maladaptive hybridization [1-3], is one of the few processes in which natural selection directly favors the evolution of species as discrete groups (e.g., [4-7]). The evolution of reproductive barriers via reinforcement is expected to evolve in regions where the ranges of two species overla...

Measuring selection and gene flow during reinforcement

Gene flow can impede the evolution of reproductive isolating barriers between sympatric species. Reinforcement is the process by which pre-zygotic reproductive isolation evolves in sympatry due to selection to decrease costly hybridization. It is known that reinforcement can be prevented by too much gene flow, but it is unknown the extent to which reinforcement has naturally evolved in the pres...

Genomic evidence of gene flow during reinforcement in Texas Phlox.

Gene flow can impede the evolution of reproductive isolating barriers between species. Reinforcement is the process by which prezygotic reproductive isolation evolves in sympatry due to selection to decrease costly hybridization. It is known that reinforcement can be prevented by too much gene flow, but we still do not know how often have prezygotic barriers evolved in the presence of gene flow...

Can reinforcement complete speciation?

Hybridization is common in nature, even between "good" species. This observation poses the question of why reinforcement is not always successful in leading to the evolution of complete reproductive isolation. To study this question, we developed a new "quasi-linkage disequilibrium" (QLD) approximation to obtain the first analytic results for the evolution of modifiers that increase mate discri...

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