QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI AFFECTING DIFFERENCES IN FLORAL MORPHOLOGY BETWEEN 2 SPECIES OF MONKEYFLOWER (MIMULUS)

Conspicuous differences in floral morphology are partly responsible fo r reproductive isolation between two sympatric species of monkeyflower because of their effect on visitation of the flowers by different pol linators. Mimulus lewisii flowers are visited primarily by bumblebees, whereas M. cardinalis flowers are visited mostly by hummingbirds. The genetic control of 12 morphological differences between the flowers o f M. lewisii and M. cardinalis was explored in a large linkage mapping population of F-2 plants (n = 465) to provide an accurate estimate of the number and magnitude of effect of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) governing each character. Between one and six QTLs were identified for each trait. Most (9/12) traits appear to be controlled in part by at least one major QTL explaining greater than or equal to 25% of the tot al phenotypic variance. This implies that either single genes of indiv idually large effect or linked clusters of genes with a large cumulati ve effect can play a role in the evolution of reproductive isolation a nd speciation.