GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION DURING THE SPECIATION PROCESS IN DROSOPHILA

Evolution consists of changes in the genetic constitution (gene pool) of populations. The process of evolution may be seen in two ways-which have been called anagenesis and cladogenesis (Rensch, 1960). Changes occurring within a given phylogenetic line as time proceeds, are anagenetic evolution. They result in increased adaptation to the environment, and often reflect changes of the physical or biotic conditions of the environments. Cladogenesis occurs when a phylogenetic lineage splits into two or more independently evolving lineages. The great diversity of the living world is the result of cladogenetic evolution, which results in adaptation to a greater variety of niches, or ways of life. Among cladogenetic processes, the most decisive one is speciation, the process by which one species splits into two or more species. Species are groups of populations reproductively isolated from any other such groups. Species are independent evolutionary units. Adaptive changes occurring in an individual or population may be extended to all members of the species by natural selection; however, they cannot be passed on to different species. One of the most important questions in evolutionary genetics is the amount of genetic differentiation occurring in the speciation process. Speciation may occur by a variety of processes. In sexually reproducing organisms speciation most generally occurs according to the model of "geographic speciation. " Two main stages may be recognized in this process. First, allopatric populations of the same species become genetically differentiated, mostly as a consequence of their adaptation to different environments. This genetic differentiation can only occur if the populations are geographically separated for some time, and there is no or very little migration between them. The second stage takes place when genetically differentiated populations come into geographic contact. If the gene pools of two populations are sufficiently different, progenies from interpopulational crosses are likely to have less fitness than progenies from intrapopulational crosses. Mating preferences are affected by genes. Alleles that decrease the probability of mating with individuals of a different population will, then, be selected against, while alleles increasing the probability of intrapopulational mating will be favored by natural selection. Eventually, the process may result in two reproductively isolated populations, and thus two different species. The question, "how much genetic differentiation occurs in the process of speciation," must be unfolded into two separate questions concerning the two stages of the process. The first question concerns the genetic differentiation occurring between allopatric populations that are likely to give rise to different species if and when they become, at least partially, sympatric. The second question refers to the amount of genetic differentiation taking place after sympatry, when the populations become reproductively isolated. 1 This is paper number XII in a series: "Enzyme variability in the Drosophila willistoni group. " 2 Supported by NSF grant GB32895. 'Present address: Dept. of Biology, Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. 'Address: Department of Zoology, University of Indiana, Bloomington, Indiana.