Abstract
BackgroundMuch of the debate over the evolutionary consequences of hybridization on genetic divergence and speciation results from the breakdown or reinforcement of reproductive barriers in secondary hybrid zones. Among hybrid populations established for different lengths of time following secondary contact, stronger reproductive barriers are generally expected to occur in zones with longer contact. However, in plants no detailed investigation of recent and ancient zones of secondary contact has been conducted despite the importance of such a comparative study. Here, we compare pre- and postzygotic reproductive barriers between two closely related oak species, Quercus mongolica and Q. liaotungensis, in such a situation.ResultsThe recorded flowering times of both species overlapped in both contact zones. The fruit set at 10 and 30 days after interspecific hand pollination was not significantly lower than that after intraspecific pollination whenever Q. mongolica or Q. liaotungensis comprised the maternal parents in both populations. These results indicated that neither prezygotic phenological barriers nor interspecific incompatibility could have resulted in the reproductive isolation between the two species in both hybrid zones. However, the proportion of hybrid seeds produced by both species in the ancient zone was significantly lower than that recorded in the recent zone of secondary contact. In addition, the proportion of hybrid seeds simulated to form, assuming both random mating and an absence of postpollination barriers, was significantly higher than that detected in the ancient contact zone but not in the recent contact zone. These results suggest stronger early-acting postzygotic isolation between the two oak species in the ancient relative to the recent contact zone.ConclusionsOur comparative study demonstrated that postzygotic barriers during seed maturity were the main contributing factor to total reproductive isolation, particularly in the ancient contact zone, which aided species delimitation. In the recently formed secondary contact zone, pre- and postzygotic barriers were not well developed, and a high frequency of natural hybridization was evident. To our knowledge this study provides the first comparison of reproductive isolation between the ancient and recent secondary contact zones in plants and helps to clarify the evolutionary consequences of hybridization in a temporal context.
Highlights
Much of the debate over the evolutionary consequences of hybridization on genetic divergence and speciation results from the breakdown or reinforcement of reproductive barriers in secondary hybrid zones
The specific questions we addressed were: 1) Do pre- or postzygotic barriers contribute more to total reproductive isolation between Q. mongolica and Q. liaotungensis? and 2) Are reproductive barriers weaker in the recent secondary contact zone?
Fruit set under intra- and interspecific pollination Both Q. liaotungensis and Q. mongolica were compatible when hand pollinated with interspecific pollen (Fig. 1)
Summary
Much of the debate over the evolutionary consequences of hybridization on genetic divergence and speciation results from the breakdown or reinforcement of reproductive barriers in secondary hybrid zones. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that hybridization may accelerate genetic divergence and speciation by creating genetic novelty [2,3,4, 6,7,8,9] or may inhibit differentiation because of the breakdown of reproductive barriers [10, 11]. When incompletely isolated populations or taxa are in geographic contact again, reproductive barriers to gene flow may break down, leading to a reduction of genetic differentiation and even the challenge of species delimitation [13, 14]. The opposite outcome is that any reproductive barriers might be strengthened under selection against unfit hybrids [15, 16] These consequences may vary among hybrid populations established for different lengths of time following secondary contact. No study to our knowledge has compared barriers to reproductive isolation in ancient and recently formed plant hybrid zones
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