Publication Date:
2016-01-19
Description:
The reproductive ecology ofSaccharomyces cerevisiaeis still largely unknown. Recent evidence of interspecific hybridization, high levels of strain heterozygosity, and prion transmission suggest that outbreeding occurs frequently in yeasts. Nevertheless, the place where yeasts mate and recombine in the wild has not been identified. We found that the intestine of social wasps hosts highly outbredS. cerevisiaestrains as well as a rareS. cerevisiae×S. paradoxushybrid. We show that the intestine ofPolistes dominulasocial wasps favors the mating ofS. cerevisiaestrains among themselves and withS. paradoxuscells by providing a succession of environmental conditions prompting cell sporulation and spores germination. In addition, we prove that heterospecific mating is the only option for EuropeanS. paradoxusstrains to survive in the gut. Taken together, these findings unveil the best hidden secret of yeast ecology, introducing the insect gut as an environmental alcove in which crosses occur, maintaining and generating the diversity of the ascomycetes.
Print ISSN:
0027-8424
Electronic ISSN:
1091-6490
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
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