Coupling of Barriers to Gene Exchange: Causes and Consequences

Coupling has emerged as a concept to describe the transition from differentiated populations to newly evolved species through the strengthening of reproductive isolation. However, the term has been used in multiple ways, and relevant processes have sometimes not been clearly distinguished. Here, we synthesize existing uses of the concept of coupling and find three main perspectives: (1) coupling as the build-up of linkage disequilibrium among loci underlying barriers to gene exchange, (2) coupling as the build-up of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium, and (3) coupling as the process generating a coincidence of distinct barrier effects. We compare and contrast these views, show the diverse processes involved and the complexity of the relationships among recombination, linkage disequilibrium, and reproductive isolation, and, finally, we emphasize how each perspective can guide new directions in speciation research. Although the importance of coupling for evolutionary divergence and speciation is well established, many theoretical and empirical questions remain unanswered.