Scholarlink

<p>The formation of reproductive isolation is a snowball-like process in which initial incompatibilities are often obscured by those accumulated during or after speciation. The Olkhon mountain vole or Olkhon vole (<i>Alticola olchonensis</i>), a taxon with unclear taxonomic status, provides an intriguing model to explore the early stages of peripatric speciation. <i>A. olchonensis</i> is a closely related species to <i>A. tuvinicus</i>; the latter includes two geographically isolated forms (Tuva and Khuvsgul). We examined reproductive performance, spermatogenesis dynamics, and chromosome synapsis and recombination characteristics of the all parental groups, their F1 and F2 hybrids, and backcrosses. While most F1 hybrids were fertile, they showed abnormalities in sperm morphology. F1 hybrids between Olkhon and Khuvsgul voles, as well as F2 hybrids and half of the backcrosses between Olkhon and Tuva voles, exhibited partial or extensive chromosome asynapsis and drastically reduced spermatid counts. Asynapsis could lead to the observed meiotic failure. Our findings indicate that the Olkhon vole is undergoing the early stages of reproductive isolation formation and thus speciation.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Experimental evidence for emerging speciation in the Olkhon mountain vole (Rodentia: Arvicolinae)

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月7日

查看全文
  • Tatiana Bikchurina,
  • Igor Moroldoev,
  • Natalia Lopatina,
  • Daria Rubtsova,
  • Evgenia Pozdnyakova,
  • Yuri Litvinov,
  • Pavel Borodin

摘要

The formation of reproductive isolation is a snowball-like process in which initial incompatibilities are often obscured by those accumulated during or after speciation. The Olkhon mountain vole or Olkhon vole (Alticola olchonensis), a taxon with unclear taxonomic status, provides an intriguing model to explore the early stages of peripatric speciation. A. olchonensis is a closely related species to A. tuvinicus; the latter includes two geographically isolated forms (Tuva and Khuvsgul). We examined reproductive performance, spermatogenesis dynamics, and chromosome synapsis and recombination characteristics of the all parental groups, their F1 and F2 hybrids, and backcrosses. While most F1 hybrids were fertile, they showed abnormalities in sperm morphology. F1 hybrids between Olkhon and Khuvsgul voles, as well as F2 hybrids and half of the backcrosses between Olkhon and Tuva voles, exhibited partial or extensive chromosome asynapsis and drastically reduced spermatid counts. Asynapsis could lead to the observed meiotic failure. Our findings indicate that the Olkhon vole is undergoing the early stages of reproductive isolation formation and thus speciation.