Do genome size differences within <i>Brachionus asplanchnoidis</i> (Rotifera, Monogononta) cause reproductive barriers among geographic populations?

ABSTRACT: Genome size in the rotifer Brachionus asplanchnoidis, which belongs to the B. plicatilis species complex, is greatly enlarged and extremely variable (205-407 Mbp). Such variation raises the question whether large genome size differences among individuals might cause reproductive barriers, which could trigger speciation within this group by restricting gene flow across populations. To test this hypothesis, we used B. asplanchnoidis clones from three geographic populations and conducted assays to quantify reproductive isolation among clones differing in genome size, and we examined the population structure of all three populations using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). AFLPs indicated that these populations were genetically separated, but we also found hi

SUBMITTER: Riss S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7611973 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature