Speciation and Reduced Hybrid Female Fertility in House Mice

Abstract

I asked whether there is female sterility in hybrid offspring of Mus musculus domesticus and M. m. musculus using two wild derived inbred strains representing each subspecies. I evaluated F1 hybrid female fertility by crossing F1 females to a tester male and comparing multiple reproductive parameters between intra-subspecific controls and inter-subspecific hybrids. Hybrid females had smaller litter size, reduced embryo survival, fewer ovulations, and fewer small follicles relative to controls. Significant variation in reproductive parameters was seen among different genotypes. Genes contributing to hybrid female infertility are polymorphic within subspecies. Differences in reproductive phenotypes in F1's of reciprocal crosses suggest that female subfertility may be due to either cyto-nuclear incompatibility or to imprinting. These findings suggest a greater complexity in hybrid sterility than has been previously appreciated and highlight the potential importance of hybrid female sterility in the early stages of speciation.