Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles
Published on: July 11, 2025
The molecular evolutionary basis of species formation
1Department of Biology, University of Rochester, New York14627, USA. dvnp@mail.rochester.edu
Abstract:
All plant and animal species arise by speciation - the evolutionary splitting of one species into two reproductively incompatible species. But until recently our understanding of the molecular genetic details of speciation was slow in coming and largely limited to Drosophila species. Here, I review progress in determining the molecular identities and evolutionary histories of several new 'speciation genes' that cause hybrid dysfunction between species of yeast, flies, mice and plants. The new work suggests that, surprisingly, the first steps in the evolution of hybrid dysfunction are not necessarily adaptive.
Related Concept Videos
Formation of Species
Genetics of Speciation
The Evidence for Evolution
Speciation Rates
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Phylogenetic Species Concept in Microbiology

