Genetic Barriers to Historical Gene Flow between Cryptic Species of Alpine Bumblebees Revealed by Comparative Population Genomics.

ABSTRACT: Evidence is accumulating that gene flow commonly occurs between recently diverged species, despite the existence of barriers to gene flow in their genomes. However, we still know little about what regions of the genome become barriers to gene flow and how such barriers form. Here, we compare genetic differentiation across the genomes of bumblebee species living in sympatry and allopatry to reveal the potential impact of gene flow during species divergence and uncover genetic barrier loci. We first compared the genomes of the alpine bumblebee Bombus sylvicola and a previously unidentified sister species living in sympatry in the Rocky Mountains, revealing prominent islands of elevated genetic divergence in the genome that colocalize with centromeres and regions of low recombination. This sa

SUBMITTER: Christmas MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8321533 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature