INVITED REVIEW Speciation genes in plants

†Background Analyses of speciation genes – genes that contribute to the cessation of gene flow between popu-lations – can offer clues regarding the ecological settings, evolutionary forces and molecular mechanisms that drive the divergence of populations and species. This review discusses the identities and attributes of genes that contribute to reproductive isolation (RI) in plants, compares them with animal speciation genes and inves-tigates what these genes can tell us about speciation. † Scope Forty-one candidate speciation genes were identified in the plant literature. Of these, seven contributed to pre-pollination RI, one to post-pollination, prezygotic RI, eight to hybrid inviability, and 25 to hybrid sterility. Genes, gene families and genetic pathways that were frequently found to underlie the evolution of RI in different plant groups include the anthocyanin pathway and its regulators (pollinator isolation), S RNase-SI genes (unilat-eral incompatibility), disease resistance genes (hybrid necrosis), chimeric mitochondrial genes (cytoplasmic male sterility), and pentatricopeptide repeat family genes (cytoplasmic male sterility). †Conclusions The most surprising conclusion from this review is that identities of genes underlying both prezy-gotic and postzygotic RI are often predictable in a broad sense from the phenotype of the reproductive barrier. Regulatory changes (both cis and trans) dominate the evolution of pre-pollination RI in plants, whereas a mix of regulatory mutations and changes in protein-coding genes underlie intrinsic postzygotic barriers. Also, loss