Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Genetic divergence will always accompany reproductive isolation, either due to novel adaptations via selection and/or due to genetic drift, and is the principal mechanism underlying speciation. On a molecular genetics level, genetic divergence is due to changes in a small number of genes in a species, resulting in speciation . [ 2 ]
As previously described, gradual genetic drift across populations (isolation by distance) and limited gene dispersal can account for some of the genetic and phenotypic divergence across populations, but there are alternative models besides isolation by distance that can contribute to these differences as well.
A genetic isolate is a population of organisms that has little to no genetic mixing with other organisms of the same species due to geographic isolation or other factors that prevent reproduction. Genetic isolates form new species through an evolutionary process known as speciation .
Reproductive isolation acts as the primary mechanism driving genetic divergence in allopatry [14] and can be amplified by divergent selection. [15] Pre-zygotic and post-zygotic isolation are often the most cited mechanisms for allopatric speciation, and as such, it is difficult to determine which form evolved first in an allopatric speciation ...
Genetic drift is often proposed to play a significant role in peripatric speciation. [29] [30] Case studies include Mayr's investigation of bird fauna; [31] the Australian bird Petroica multicolor; [32] and reproductive isolation in populations of Drosophila subject to population bottlenecking. [citation needed]
Figure 1: Genetic distance map by Cavalli-Sforza et al. (1994) [1] Genetic distance is a measure of the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species, whether the distance measures time from common ancestor or degree of differentiation. [2] Populations with many similar alleles have small genetic distances. This ...
In addition to the genetic causes of reproductive isolation between species there is another factor that can cause post zygotic isolation: the presence of microorganisms in the cytoplasm of certain species. The presence of these organisms in a species and their absence in another causes the non-viability of the corresponding hybrid.
A measure of the genetic divergence between species, populations within a species, or individuals, used especially in phylogenetics to express either the time elapsed since the existence of a common ancestor or the degree of differentiation in the DNA sequences comprising the genomes of each population or individual.