New perspectives in hemiascomycetous yeast taxonomy

Abstract

DNA sequencing has revolutionized yeast taxonomy. Although initially rDNA sequences proved to be universal and convenient for assigning phylogenetic relationships, it was eventually supplanted by multigene analysis, which provided more discriminating and robust results. This led to a new classification of the major yeast clades, which is still used as a reference today. More recently, the availability of a large number of complete genome sequences has given a new perspective on the molecular taxonomy of yeasts by providing a high number of genes to compare. It also highlighted an unexpected aspect of yeast genome evolution: the existence of interspecific hybrids outside of the industrial Saccharomyces clade. Together with the loss of heterozygosity in interspecific hybrids and a reduced sexuality leading to clonal propagation, this observation obliges us to reexamine the present concept of species. In parallel, the ongoing challenge is to find a universal molecular marker, to improve fast authentication and, if possible, phylogeny of yeasts. The future of yeast taxonomy will involve the sequencing of more genomes, thorough analysis of populations to obtain a good representation of the biodiversity and integration of these data into dedicated databases.