Hybridization is increasingly recognized as an important force impacting adaptation and
evolution in many lineages of fungi. During hybridization, divergent genomes and alleles are
brought together into the same cell, potentiating adaptation by increasing genomic plasticity.
Here, we review hybridization in fungi by focusing on two fungal pathogens of animals.
Hybridization is common between the basidiomycete yeast species Cryptococcus
neoformans× Cryptococcus deneoformans, and hybrid genotypes are frequently found in …