Natural selection and sympatric divergence in the apple maggot Rhagoletis pomonella

Kenneth E. Filchak (), Joseph B. Roethele and Jeffrey L. Feder
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Kenneth E. Filchak: Galvin Life Science Center, University of Notre Dame
Joseph B. Roethele: Galvin Life Science Center, University of Notre Dame
Jeffrey L. Feder: Galvin Life Science Center, University of Notre Dame

Nature, 2000, vol. 407, issue 6805, 739-742

Abstract: Abstract In On the Origin of Species, Darwin proposed that natural selection had a fundamental role in speciation1. But this view receded during the Modern Synthesis when allopatric (geographic) models of speciation were integrated with genetic studies of hybrid sterility and inviability2,3. The sympatric hypothesis posits that ecological specialization after a host shift can result in speciation in the absence of complete geographic isolation4,5. The apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella, is a model for sympatric speciation in progress4,5. Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) is the native host for R. pomonella in N. America5. But in the mid-1800s, a new population formed on introduced, domesticated apple (Malus pumila)4,5. Recent studies6,7,8,9,10 have conferred ‘host race’ status on apple flies as a potentially incipient species, partially isolated from haw flies owing to host-related adaptation. However, the source of selection that differentiates apple and haw flies is unresolved. Here we document a gene–environment interaction (fitness trade-off) that is related to host phenology and that genetically differentiates the races.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35037578

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