Absence of <i>Y</i>-chromosome introgression across the hybrid zone between <i>Mus musculus domesticus</i> and <i>Mus musculus musculus</i>

Abstract

Summary A cloned Y -specific sequence (Bishop et al. 1985) was used as a diagnostic probe to distinguish between Mus musculus domesticus and Mus musculus musculus Y -chromosomes. Analysis of the RFLPs obtained with genomic DNA isolated from wild mice caught along the contact zone between M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus in Bulgaria and Denmark showed that the Y -chromosome flow between the two semi-species is very limited. The degree of Y -chromosome penetration was compared with that of seven diagnostic autosomal loci and the mitochondrial DNA. Breeding experiments showed that the lack of Y -chromosome introgression from one semispecies to the other was not due to a major hybrid breakdown. The results suggest that the disruption of differentiated co-adapted gene systems could play a role in limiting Y -introgression.