Coupling of twelve putative chromosomal inversions maintains a strong barrier to gene flow between snail ecotypes.

ABSTRACT: Chromosomal rearrangements can lead to the coupling of reproductive barriers, but whether and how they contribute to the completion of speciation remains unclear. Marine snails of the genus Littorina repeatedly form hybrid zones between populations segregating for multiple inversion arrangements, providing opportunities to study their barrier effects. Here, we analyzed 2 adjacent transects across hybrid zones between 2 ecotypes of Littorina fabalis ("large" and "dwarf") adapted to different wave exposure conditions on a Swedish island. Applying whole-genome sequencing, we found 12 putative inversions on 9 of 17 chromosomes. Nine of the putative inversions reached near differential fixation between the 2 ecotypes, and all were in strong linkage disequilibrium. These inversions

SUBMITTER: Le Moan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11523631 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature