Hybridization facilitates evolutionary rescue

Rike B Stelkens; Michael A Brockhurst; Gregory D D Hurst; Duncan Greig

doi:10.1111/eva.12214

Hybridization facilitates evolutionary rescue

Rike B Stelkens, Michael A Brockhurst, Gregory D D Hurst, Duncan Greig

Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The resilience of populations to rapid environmental degradation is a major concern for biodiversity conservation. When environments deteriorate to lethal levels, species must evolve to adapt to the new conditions to avoid extinction. Here, we test the hypothesis that evolutionary rescue may be enabled by hybridization, because hybridization increases genetic variability. Using experimental evolution, we show that interspecific hybrid populations of Saccharomyces yeast adapt to grow in more highly degraded environments than intraspecific and parental crosses, resulting in survival rates far exceeding those of their ancestors. We conclude that hybridization can increase evolutionary responsiveness and that taxa able to exchange genes with distant relatives may better survive rapid environmental change.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1209-1217
Number of pages	9
Journal	Evolutionary applications
Volume	7
Issue number	10
Early online date	25 Sept 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12214
Publication status	Published - Dec 2014

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10.1111/eva.12214

Data from: Hybridization facilitates evolutionary rescue
Stelkens, R. B. (Creator), Brockhurst, M. A. (Creator), Hurst, G. D. D. (Creator) & Greig, D. (Creator), Dryad, 28 Aug 2014
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1jr25
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abstract = "The resilience of populations to rapid environmental degradation is a major concern for biodiversity conservation. When environments deteriorate to lethal levels, species must evolve to adapt to the new conditions to avoid extinction. Here, we test the hypothesis that evolutionary rescue may be enabled by hybridization, because hybridization increases genetic variability. Using experimental evolution, we show that interspecific hybrid populations of Saccharomyces yeast adapt to grow in more highly degraded environments than intraspecific and parental crosses, resulting in survival rates far exceeding those of their ancestors. We conclude that hybridization can increase evolutionary responsiveness and that taxa able to exchange genes with distant relatives may better survive rapid environmental change.",

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AB - The resilience of populations to rapid environmental degradation is a major concern for biodiversity conservation. When environments deteriorate to lethal levels, species must evolve to adapt to the new conditions to avoid extinction. Here, we test the hypothesis that evolutionary rescue may be enabled by hybridization, because hybridization increases genetic variability. Using experimental evolution, we show that interspecific hybrid populations of Saccharomyces yeast adapt to grow in more highly degraded environments than intraspecific and parental crosses, resulting in survival rates far exceeding those of their ancestors. We conclude that hybridization can increase evolutionary responsiveness and that taxa able to exchange genes with distant relatives may better survive rapid environmental change.

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Hybridization facilitates evolutionary rescue

Abstract

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