Reconstruction of the genome origins and evolution of the hybrid lager yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus.

ABSTRACT: Inter-specific hybridization leading to abrupt speciation is a well-known, common mechanism in angiosperm evolution; only recently, however, have similar hybridization and speciation mechanisms been documented to occur frequently among the closely related group of sensu stricto Saccharomyces yeasts. The economically important lager beer yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus is such a hybrid, formed by the union of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces bayanus-related yeasts; efforts to understand its complex genome, searching for both biological and brewing-related insights, have been underway since its hybrid nature was first discovered. It had been generally thought that a single hybridization event resulted in a unique S. pastorianus species, but it has been recently postulated that ther

SUBMITTER: Dunn B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2556262 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature