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- Title
MECHANISMS OF PREZYGOTIC REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION BETWEEN TWO SYMPATRIC SPECIES, GELSEMIUM RANKINJI AND G. SEMPERVIRENS (GELSEMIACEAE), IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.
- Authors
Pascarella, John B.
- Abstract
Natural hybridization plays a critical role in speciation, the maintenance of reproductive isolation, and genetic introgression. While many plant species have hybrid swarms in areas of sympatry, the lack of hybrids among closely related sympatrically distributed species suggests that strong pre- and/or postzygotic barriers exist to hybridization. Gelserniuni sempervirens and G. rankinii (Gelsemiaceae) are sympatrically distributed southeastern sister taxa that have strong postzygotic barriers to hybrid formation and high levels of genetic differentiation. In this study, two sympatric populations in Lowndes County, Georgia were surveyed from 1999-2005 to assess the role of temporal and pollinator isolation as potential prezygotic barriers. The populations had mostly non-overlapping flowering periods in 2003-2005, with significant differences in time of peak flowering and length of flowering. Both species shared a similar community of flower visitors, with the apid bee Habropoda lahoriosa the dominant visitor to both species. A choice experiment found that H. lahoriosa visited both species but preferred G. senlpert'irens. The primary prezygotic barrier is temporal isolation preventing hybridization in spite of the shared pollinators. This study suggests that reliance on a shared pollinator during speciation may limit opportunity for divergent selection on flowering time.
- Subjects
UNITED States; PLANT reproduction; SPECIES hybridization; PLANT embryology; PLANT species
- Publication
American Journal of Botany, 2007, Vol 94, Issue 3, p468
- ISSN
0002-9122
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3732/ajb.94.3.468