The tempo and modes of evolution of reproductive isolation in fungi

Reproductive isolation is an essential ingredient of speciation, and much has been learned in recent years about the evolution of reproductive isolation and the genetics of reproductive barriers in animals and plants. Fungi have been neglected on these aspects, despite being tractable model eukaryotes. Here, we used a model fitting approach to look at the importance of different barriers to gene flow to explain the decrease of reproductive compatibility with genetic distance in fungi. We found support for the occurrence of reinforcement in the presyngamy compatibility among basidiomycetes. In contrast, no evidence for reinforcement was detected in ascomycetes, concurring with the idea that host/habitat adaptation in this group can pleiotropically cause reproductive isolation. We found no evidence of a snowballing accumulation of postsyngamic reproductive incompatibilities in either ascomycetes or the complex of anther smut fungi. Together with previous studies, our results suggest that ecologically based barriers to gene flow and karyotypic differences may have an important role in hybrid inviability and sterility in fungi. Interestingly, hybrid sterility appeared to evolve faster than hybrid inviability in fungi. Heredity (2012) 109, 204-214; doi:10.1038/hdy.2012.30; published online 6 June 2012