“Genetic architecture of Prdm9-driven reproductive isolation between mouse subspecies”

Hybrid incompatibility, the inviability or infertility of species hybrids, has played a central role in speciation research since Darwin’s Origin of Species. However, the search for genes controlling hybrid sterility, mainly using Drosophila species hybrids, has been largely unsuccessful, revealing a polygenic control with complex epistatic interactions. Fifty years ago, we identified the first hybrid sterility locus, Hst1, in the house mouse genome, and 14 years ago, we positionally cloned Prdm9 as the gene responsible for Hst1-controlled hybrid sterility.

In this talk, I will summarize our current understanding of the molecular genetic mechanisms that control this unique model of mammalian hybrid sterility.