Patterns of transcriptome divergence in the male accessory gland of two closely related species of field crickets.

ABSTRACT: One of the central questions in evolutionary genetics is how much of the genome is involved in the early stages of divergence between populations, causing them to be reproductively isolated. In this article, we investigate genomic differentiation in a pair of closely related field crickets (Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus). These two species are the result of allopatric divergence and now interact along an extensive hybrid zone in eastern North America. Genes encoding seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) are often divergent between species, and it has been hypothesized that these proteins may play a key role in the origin and maintenance of reproductive isolation between diverging lineages. Hence, we chose to scan the accessory gland transcriptome to enable direct comparisons of differentiat

SUBMITTER: Andres JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3567739 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature