What are the evolutionary consequences of gene duplication? One answer is s
peciation, according to a model initially called Reciprocal Silencing and r
ecently expanded and renamed Divergent Resolution. This model shows how the
loss of different copies of a duplicated gene in allopatric populations (d
ivergent resolution) can promote speciation by genetically isolating these
populations should they become reunited. Genome duplication events produce
thousands of duplicated genes. Therefore, lineages with a history of genome
duplication might have been especially prone to speciation via divergent r
esolution.