title: Ants exhibit asymmetric hybridization in a mosaic hybrid zone.
abstract: Research on hybridization between species provides unparalleled insights into the pre- and postzygotic isolating mechanisms that drive speciation. In social organisms, colony-level incompatibilities may provide additional reproductive barriers not present in solitary species, and hybrid zones offer an opportunity to identify these barriers. Here, we use genotyping-by-sequencing to sequence hundreds of markers in a hybrid zone between two socially polymorphic ant species, Formica selysi and Formica cinerea. We characterize the zone, determine the frequency of hybrid workers, infer whether hybrid queens or males are produced and investigate whether hybridization is influenced by colony social organization. We also compare cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and aggression levels between the two species. The hybrid zone exhibits a mosaic structure. The asymmetric distribution of hybrids skewed towards F. cinerea suggests a pattern of unidirectional nuclear gene flow from F. selysi into F. cinerea. The occurrence of backcrossed individuals indicates that hybrid queens and/or males are fertile, and the presence of the F. cinerea mitochondrial haplotype in 97% of hybrids shows that successful F1 hybrids will generally have F. cinerea mothers and F. selysi fathers. We found no evidence that social organization contributes to speciation, because hybrids occur in both single-queen and multiple-queen colonies. Strongly differentiated cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and heightened interspecific aggression further reveal that species recognition cues are both present and perceived. The discovery of fertile hybrids and asymmetrical gene flow is unusual in ants, and this hybrid zone will therefore provide an ideal system with which to investigate speciation in social insects.
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. Jessica.Purcell@unil.ch.|Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA. Jessica.Purcell@unil.ch.
authors: Jessica
authors: 0000-0001-8568-4162
authors: J
authors: Purcell
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Sacha
authors: S
authors: Zahnd
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Anouk
authors: A
authors: Athanasiades
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Türler
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Chapuisat
authors: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
authors: Alan
authors: A
authors: Brelsford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D051456:Gene Flow; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: bimodal hybrid zone; formicinae; genomic cline; mosaic hybrid zone; reproductive isolation; speciation; supergene