Perfect association between spatial swarm segregation and the X-chromosome speciation island in hybridizing Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles gambiae populations.

ABSTRACT: The sibling species An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s. are major malaria vectors thought to be undergoing sympatric speciation with gene flow. In the absence of intrinsic post-zygotic isolation between the two taxa, speciation is thought possible through the association of assortative mating and genomic regions protected from gene flow by recombination suppression. Such genomic islands of speciation have been described in pericentromeric regions of the X, 2L and 3L chromosomes. Spatial swarm segregation plays a major role in assortative mating between sympatric populations of the two species and, given their importance for speciation, genes responsible for such pre-mating reproductive barriers are expected to be protected within divergence islands. In this study 2063 male and 266 female An.

SUBMITTER: Niang A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9232630 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature