Does Asymmetric Reproductive Isolation Predict the Direction of Introgression in Plants?

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Abstract
Background/Objectives: The evolution of reproductive isolation (RI) results in the reduction of interspecific hybridization and the maintenance of species boundaries. Asymmetries in RI, where one species more frequently serves as the maternal or paternal parent in initial F1 hybrid for-mation, are commonly observed in plants. Asymmetric introgression, the predominantly unidi-rectional transfer of genetic material through hybridization and backcrossing, has also been fre-quently documented in hybridizing plant taxa as well. This study investigates whether asymme-tries in total RI measured between species can predict the direction of introgression in naturally hybridizing plant taxa. Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted on 19 plant species pairs with published data on both asymmetric total RI, and asymmetric introgression. Species pairs that met these criteria were identified through a comprehensive literature review. A two-tailed binomial test was performed to evaluate whether asymmetric RI was associated with asymmetries in in-trogression. Results: No significant relationship was found between asymmetries in total RI and the direction of introgression (p = 0.3593). Conclusions: Asymmetric RI largely does not predict the direction of introgression. Rather, introgression patterns may be better understood by exam-ining F1 and later-generation hybrids in natural settings, focusing on their fitness, mating behav-iors, and the ecological and demographic factors that shape hybrid zones.
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