Open AccessRestoring fertility in yeast hybrids: Breeding and quantitative genetics of beneficial traits
Author(s) -
Samiseeb,
Federico Visii,
Yue Hu,
Alex J Hinks Roberts,
Agnieszka Maslowska,
Thomas Walsh,
Katherine A. Smart,
Edward J. Louis,
Daniela Delneri
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2101242118
Subject(s) - hybrid , biology , ploidy , genetics , quantitative trait locus , genetic diversity , gene , botany , population , demography , sociology
Significance Interspecies hybrids, for which mules are a common example, are sterile and therefore an evolutionary dead end. Hybrid sterility has been an obstacle to classical genetic analysis, predictive quantitative approaches, and attempts at strain improvement via breeding. Here, we overcame infertility by creating hybrid tetraploids of yeast species to allow continuous multigenerational breeding. Thus, by exploiting interspecific genetic diversity, we were able to create an unprecedented number of meiotic progenies with different combinations of traits. We showed that the offspring of different hybrids have extreme phenotypes, identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) dependent of the mitochondria, and discovered QTLs that are uniquely generated in hybrids and for which the allelic variation has no phenotypic consequences in the parental species.