The population genetics of speciation: the evolution of hybrid incompatibilities
Open accessAbstract
Speciation often results from the accumulation of "complementary genes," i.e., from genes that, while having no deleterious effect within species, cause inviability or sterility when brought together with genes from another species. Here I model speciation as the accumulation of genic incompatibilities between diverging populations. Several results are obtained. First, and most important, the number of genic incompatibilities between taxa increases much faster than linearly with time. In particular, the probability of speciation increases at least as fast as the square of the time since separation between two taxa. Second, as Muller realized, all hybrid incompatibilities must initially be asymmetric. Third, at loci that have diverged between taxa, evolutionarily derived alleles cause hybrid problems far more often than ancestral alleles. Last, it is "easier" to evolve complex hybrid incompatibilities requiring the simultaneous action of three or more loci than to evolve simple incompatibilities between pairs of genes. These results have several important implications for genetic analyses of speciation.
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The number of hybrid incompatibilities is expected to grow faster than linearly with divergence time.
“The number of hybrid incompatibilities is expected to grow faster than linearly with divergence time (Orr 1995)”
From Finding Hybrid Incompatibilities Using Genome Sequences from Hybrid Populations (2021) · cites this paper as Orr 1995
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- Authors
- Orr, H. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Rochester (US)
- Corresponding author
- Orr, H A
- Venue
- Genetics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1995-04-01
- Volume
- 139
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1805-1813
- ISSN
- 0016-6731 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-2631
- OpenAlex
- W2168004137
- Cited by
- 785
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 5.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Genetics (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- speciation, hybrid incompatibility, complementary genes, hybrid inviability, hybrid sterility, Muller's ratchet, derived alleles, ancestral alleles, population divergence, speciation rates
- MeSH terms
- Alleles, Biological Evolution, Genetics, Population, Models, Genetic
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