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Science 30 January 2009:
Vol. 323. no. 5914, pp. 623 - 626
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165917
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Reports

Divergent Evolution of Duplicate Genes Leads to Genetic Incompatibilities Within A. thaliana

David Bikard,1 Dhaval Patel,2 Claire Le Metté,1 Veronica Giorgi,1 Christine Camilleri,1 Malcolm J. Bennett,2 Olivier Loudet1*

Genetic incompatibilities resulting from interactions between two loci represent a potential source of postzygotic barriers and may be an important factor in evolution when they impair the outcome of interspecific crosses. We show that, in crosses between strains of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, loci interact epistatically, controlling a recessive embryo lethality. This interaction is explained by divergent evolution occurring among paralogs of an essential duplicate gene, for which the functional copy is not located at the same locus in different accessions. These paralogs demonstrate genetic heterogeneity in their respective evolutionary trajectories, which results in widespread incompatibility among strains. Our data suggest that these passive mechanisms, gene duplication and extinction, could represent an important source of genetic incompatibilities across all taxa.

1 Genetics and Plant Breeding, INRA, SGAP UR254, F-78026 Versailles, France.
2 Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, Division of Plant Sciences, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: loudet{at}versailles.inra.fr

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