Starvation-associated genome restructuring can lead to reproductive isolation in yeast.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of the mechanisms that lead to reproductive isolation is essential for understanding population structure and speciation. While several models have been advanced to explain post-mating reproductive isolation, experimental data supporting most are indirect. Laboratory investigations of this phenomenon are typically carried out under benign conditions, which result in low rates of genetic change unlikely to initiate reproductive isolation. Previously, we described an experimental system using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae where starvation served as a proxy to any stress that decreases reproduction and/or survivorship. We showed that novel lineages with restructured genomes quickly emerged in starved populations, and that these survivors were more fit than their ancestors when

SUBMITTER: Kroll E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3722211 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature