Interspecific introgression reveals a role of male genital morphology during the evolution of reproductive isolation in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: Rapid divergence in genital structures among nascent species has been posited to be an early-evolving cause of reproductive isolation, although evidence supporting this idea as a widespread phenomenon remains mixed. Using a collection of interspecific introgression lines between two Drosophila species that diverged approximately 240,000 years ago, we tested the hypothesis that even modest divergence in genital morphology can result in substantial fitness losses. We studied the reproductive consequences of variation in the male epandrial posterior lobes between Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila sechellia and found that divergence in posterior lobe morphology has significant fitness costs on several prefertilization and postcopulatory reproductive measures. Males with divergent posterior

SUBMITTER: Frazee SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8248101 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature