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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

An In Vitro Approach to Study Mitochondrial Dysfunction: A Cybrid Model
Published on: March 9, 2022
Introgression of mitochondrial DNA among lineages in a hybridogenetic ant
1Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin D. Roosevelt, 50, CP 160/12, Brussels 1050, Belgium hugo.darras@ulb.ac.be.
Abstract:
We report a remarkable pattern of incongruence between nuclear and mitochondrial variations in a social insect, the desert ant Cataglyphis hispanica. This species reproduces by social hybridogenesis. In all populations, two distinct genetic lineages coexist; non-reproductive workers develop from hybrid crosses between the lineages, whereas reproductive offspring (males and new queens) are typically produced asexually by parthenogenesis. Genetic analyses based on nuclear markers revealed that the two lineages remain highly differentiated despite constant hybridization for worker production. Here, we show that, in contrast with nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) does not recover the two lineages as monophyletic. Rather, mitochondrial haplotypes cluster according to their geographical origin. We argue that this cytonuclear incongruence stems from introgression of mtDNA among lineages, and review the mechanisms likely to explain this pattern under social hybridogenesis.
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