Document Type

Article

Publication Date

July 2010

Publication Title

PLoS Genetics

Volume

6

Issue Number

7

DOI

10.1371/journal.pgen.1001038

ISSN

15537390

Keywords

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Fungal spores, Genetic loci, Mismatch repair, Aneuploidy, DNA repair, Saccharomyces, Yeast

Disciplines

Chemical Engineering | Engineering

Abstract

The Dobzhansky-Muller (D-M) model of speciation by genic incompatibility is widely accepted as the primary cause of interspecific postzygotic isolation. Since the introduction of this model, there have been theoretical and experimental data supporting the existence of such incompatibilities. However, speciation genes have been largely elusive, with only a handful of candidate genes identified in a few organisms. The Saccharomyces sensu stricto yeasts, which have small genomes and can mate interspecifically to produce sterile hybrids, are thus an ideal model for studying postzygotic isolation. Among them, only a single D-M pair, comprising a mitochondrially targeted product of a nuclear gene and a mitochondrially encoded locus, has been found. Thus far, no D-M pair of nuclear genes has been identified between any sensu stricto yeasts. We report here the first detailed genome-wide analysis of rare meiotic products from an otherwise sterile hybrid and show that no classic D-M pairs of speciation genes exist between the nuclear genomes of the closely related yeasts S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus. Instead, our analyses suggest that more complex interactions, likely involving multiple loci having weak effects, may be responsible for their post-zygotic separation. The lack of a nuclear encoded classic D-M pair between these two yeasts, yet the existence of multiple loci that may each exert a small effect through complex interactions suggests that initial speciation events might not always be mediated by D-M pairs. An alternative explanation may be that the accumulation of polymorphisms leads to gamete inviability due to the activities of anti-recombination mechanisms and/or incompatibilities between the species' transcriptional and metabolic networks, with no single pair at least initially being responsible for the incompatibility. After such a speciation event, it is possible that one or more D-M pairs might subsequently arise following isolation.

Comments

SJSU users: Use the following link to login and access the article via SJSU databases.This article was published in PLoS Genetics, volume 6, issue 7, 2010, and can also be found online here. Copyright © 2010, The Authors.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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