Symbiotic Sympatric Speciation: Compliance with Interaction-driven Phenotype Differentiation from a Single Genotype

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel mechanism for sympatric speciation driven by interaction-induced phenotypic plasticity, leading to reproductive isolation and potential spatial segregation of species, supported by theoretical and experimental evidence.

Contribution

It introduces a new theory linking developmental plasticity and genetic fixation to explain sympatric speciation, including hybrid sterility and spatial segregation phenomena.

Findings

Phenotypic groups form from identical genotypes due to interaction dynamics.

Genetic fixation of phenotypic differences leads to reproductive isolation.

Experimental validation with E. coli supports the theory.

Abstract

A mechanism of sympatric speciation is presented based on the interaction-induced developmental plasticity of phenotypes. First, phenotypes of individuals with identical genotypes split into a few groups, according to instability in the developmental dynamics that are triggered with the competitive interaction among individuals. Then, through mutational change of genes, the phenotypic differences are fixed to genes, until the groups are completely separated in genes as well as phenotypes. It is also demonstrated that the proposed theory leads to hybrid sterility under sexual recombination, and thus speciation is completed in the sense of reproductive isolation. As a result of this post-mating isolation, the mating preference evolves later. When there are two alleles, the correlation between alleles is formed, to consolidate the speciation. When individuals are located in space, different species are later segregated spatially, implying that the speciation so far regarded to be allopatric may be a result of sympatric speciation. Relationships with previous theories, frequency-dependent selection, reinforcement, Baldwin's effect, phenotypic plasticity, and resource competition are briefly discussed. Relevance of the results to natural evolution are discussed, including punctuated equilibrium, incomplete penetrance in mutants, and the change in flexibility in genotype-phenotype correspondence. Finally, it is discussed how our theory is confirmed both in field and in laboratory (in an experiment with the use of E coli.).