Reinforcement selection acting on the European house mouse hybrid zone

Behavioural isolation may lead to complete speciation when partial postzygotic isolation acts in the presence of divergent specific mate recognition systems. These conditions exist where Mus musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus come into contact and hybridize. We studied two mate recognition signal systems, based on urinary and salivary proteins, across a Central European portion of the mouse hybrid zone. Introgression of the genomic regions responsible for these signals: the major urinary proteins (MUPs) and androgen binding proteins (ABPs) respectively, was compared to introgression at loci assumed to be nearly neutral and those under selection against hybridization. The preference of individuals taken from across the zone regarding these signals was measured in Y mazes, and we develop a model for the analysis of the transition of such traits under reinforcement selection. The strongest assortative preferences were found in males for urine and females for ABP. Clinal analyses confir...