A Major Locus Controls a Genital Shape Difference Involved in Reproductive Isolation Between Drosophila yakuba and Drosophila santomea.

ABSTRACT: Rapid evolution of genitalia shape, a widespread phenomenon in animals with internal fertilization, offers the opportunity to dissect the genetic architecture of morphological evolution linked to sexual selection and speciation. Most quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping studies of genitalia divergence have focused on Drosophila melanogaster and its three most closely related species, D. simulans, D. mauritiana, and D. sechellia, and have suggested that the genetic basis of genitalia evolution involves many loci. We report the first genetic study of male genitalia evolution between D. yakuba and D. santomea, two species of the D. melanogaster species subgroup. We focus on male ventral branches, which harm females during interspecific copulation. Using landmark-based geometric morphometrics

SUBMITTER: Peluffo AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4683660 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature