Mate choice in sticklebacks reveals that immunogenes can drive ecological speciation

Demetra Andreou, Christophe Eizaguirre, Thomas Boehm and Manfred Milinski

Behavioral Ecology, 2017, vol. 28, issue 4, 953-961

Abstract: Lay SummaryThe role of sexual selection in driving speciation is supported by correlative links between various traits under sexual selection and speciation. However, there is little evidence on the candidate genes involved in mate choice enabling speciation. Experiments on stickleback mate choice highlight the polymorphic immunogenes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) as a true “magic trait”: the MHC drives both habitat-specific assortative mate choice and local adaptation—ultimately speciation.

Keywords: ecological speciation; magic trait; major histocompatibility complex; mate choice; parasite resistance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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