No evidence for reproductive isolation through sexual conflict in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 24069369.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0074971 and PMC identifier PMC3479737.
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Abstract
Sexual conflict leading to sexual antagonistic coevolution has been hypothesized to drive reproductive isolation in allopatric populations and hence lead to speciation. However, the generality of this speciation mechanism is under debate. We used experimental evolution in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphusrobini to investigate whether sexual conflict promotes reproductive isolation measured comprehensively to include all possible pre- and post-zygotic mechanisms. We established replicate populations in which we either enforced monogamy, and hence removed sexual conflict by making male and female evolutionary interests congruent, or allowed promiscuity. After 35 and 45 generations of experimental evolution, we found no evidence of reproductive isolation between the populations in any of the mating systems. Our results indicate that sexual conflict does not necessarily drive fast reproductive isolation and it may not be a ubiquitous mechanism leading to speciation.