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Rapid evolution of defense genes in plants may produce hybrid incompatibility

07-08-2007 · EurekAlert!

Species are kept separate in plants and animals through barriers to gene flow. However, the exact mechanisms of speciation have only been explained within the last 20 years. Dr. Detlef Weigel and colleagues found that one mechanism, hybrid necrosis, is associated with a plant defense gene. Different forms of these rapidly evolving genes in parent plants can cause autoimmune responses leading to offspring inviability and may represent a molecular pathway to speciation unique to plants

Keywords: rapid, evolution, defense, genes, plants, produce, hybrid, incompatibility, gene, plant

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