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Spore germination determines yeast inbreeding according to fitness in the local environment

Miller, EL; Greig, D; (2012) Spore germination determines yeast inbreeding according to fitness in the local environment. The American Naturalist , 185 (2) pp. 291-301. 10.1086/679347. Green open access

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Abstract

Gene combinations conferring local fitness may be destroyed by mating with individuals that are adapted to a different environment. This form of outbreeding depression provides an evolutionary incentive for self-fertilization. We show that the yeast Saccharomyces paradoxus tends to selffertilize when it is well adapted to its local environment but tends to outcross when it is poorly adapted. This behavior could preserve combinations of genes when they are beneficial and break them up when they are not, thereby helping adaptation. Haploid spores must germinate before mating, and we found that fitter spores had higher rates of germination across a 24 hour period, increasing the probability that they mate with germinated spores from the same meiotic tetrad. The ability of yeast spores to detect local conditions before germinating and mating suggests the novel possibility that these gametes directly sense their own adaptation and plastically adjust their breeding strategy accordingly.

Type: Article
Title: Spore germination determines yeast inbreeding according to fitness in the local environment
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1086/679347
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/679347
Language: English
Additional information: Online enhancement: appendix.Dryad data: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.r0g9m
Keywords: Local adaptation, inbreeding, outcrossing depression, germination, fitness
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1448851
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