Can Interspecies Hybrid Zygosaccharomyces rouxii Produce an Allohaploid Gamete?

ABSTRACT In soy sauce manufacturing, Candida versatilis plays a role in the production of volatile flavor compounds, such as volatile phenols, but limited accessible information on its genome has prevented further investigation regarding aroma production and breeding. Although the draft genome sequence data of two strains of C. versatilis have recently been reported, these strains are not similar to each other. Here, we reassess the draft genome sequence data for strain t-1, which was originally reported to be C. versatilis, and conclude that strain t-1 is most probably not C. versatilis but a gamete of hybrid Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. Phylogenetic analysis of the D1/D2 region of the 26S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence indicated that strain t-1 is more similar to the genus Zygosaccharomyces than to C. versatilis. Moreover, we found that the genome of strain t-1 is composed of haploid genome content and divided into two regions that show approximately 100% identity with the T or P subgenome derived from the natural hybrid Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, such as NBRC110957 and NBRC1876. We also found a chromosome crossing-over signature in the scaffolds of strain t-1. These results suggest that strain t-1 is a gamete of the hybrid Z. rouxii, generated by either meiosis or chromosome loss following reciprocal translocation between the T and P subgenomes. Although it is unclear why strain t-1 was misidentified as C. versatilis, the genome of strain t-1 has broad implications for considering the evolutionary fate of an allodiploid. IMPORTANCE In yeast, crossing between different species sometimes leads to interspecies hybrids. The hybrid generally cannot produce viable spores because dissimilarity of parental genomes prevents normal chromosome segregation during meiotic division, leading to a dead end. Thus, only a few natural cases of homoploid hybrid speciation, which requires mating between 1n gametes of hybrids, have been described. However, a recent study provided strong evidence that homoploid hybrid speciation is initiated in natural populations of the budding yeast, suggesting the potential presence of viable 1n gametes of hybrids. The significance of our study is finding that the strain t-1, which had been misidentified as Candida versatilis, is a viable 1n gamete derived from hybrid Zygosaccharomyces rouxii.