Genomic Approaches Are Improving Taxonomic Representation in Genetic Studies of Speciation
- Kira Delmore1,
- Hannah Justen1,
- Kathleen M. Kay2,
- Jun Kitano3,
- Leonie C. Moyle4,
- Rike Stelkens5,
- Matthew A. Streisfeld6,
- Yo Y. Yamasaki3 and
- Joseph Ross7
- 1Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
- 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95060, USA
- 3Ecological Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan
- 4Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
- 5Division of Population Genetics, Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- 6Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA
- 7Department of Biology, California State University, Fresno, California 93740, USA
- Correspondence: jross{at}csufresno.edu
Abstract
Until recently, our understanding of the genetics of speciation was limited to a narrow group of model species with a specific set of characteristics that made genetic analysis feasible. Rapidly advancing genomic technologies are eliminating many of the distinctions between laboratory and natural systems. In light of these genomic developments, we review the history of speciation genetics, advances that have been gleaned from model and non-model organisms, the current state of the field, and prospects for broadening the diversity of taxa included in future studies. Responses to a survey of speciation scientists across the world reveal the ongoing division between the types of questions that are addressed in model and non-model organisms. To bridge this gap, we suggest integrating genetic studies from model systems that can be reared in the laboratory or greenhouse with genomic studies in related non-models where extensive ecological knowledge exists.
