Sex Chromosome Turnover and Structural Interspecific Genome Divergence Shapes Meiotic Outcomes in Hybridizing Cobitis

Abstract

It has been empirically established that genome mixing between divergent species can trigger meiotic aberrations, ultimately leading to the emergence of asexual reproduction through the production of unreduced gametes in various metazoan lineages. Yet, it remains poorly understood how such asexual hybrids cope with co-inherited differences in sex determination systems, diverged regulatory networks, and chromosomal incompatibilities-- especially in the context of increased ploidy. Addressing these questions requires high-quality, chromosome-level reference genomes of the parental species involved in hybrid formation. Here, we present the first chromosome-level genome assemblies for three hybridizing Cobitis species (C. elongatoides, C. taenia, and C. tanaitica), providing a comprehensive framework to investigate the genetic and cytogenetic basis of hybrid sterility and the transition to asexuality. By integrating genome scaffolding, male/female pooled sequencing, and molecular cytogenetics, we uncover extensive structural variation among homologous chromosomes of the three species, despite their overall syntenic conservation. Population-level Pool-Seq analyses further revealed that each species possesses a distinct, non-homologous sex chromosome, highlighting sex chromosome turnover even among recently diverged lineages. These assemblies enabled the design of chromosome-specific painting probes, which we applied to meiotic metaphase I spreads of diploid hybrids. This approach revealed striking differences in the pairing success of orthologous chromosomes, with some (e.g., Ch01B) frequently forming bivalents, while others (e.g., Ch01A, Ch05, Ch20) failed to do so and remained unpaired. Our results demonstrate that chromosome-specific features, shaped by structural evolution and sex-linked divergence, contribute unequally to hybrid meiotic failure. Together, this work provides a high-resolution genomic and cytogenetic framework to understand how interspecific hybridization gives rise to clonality, and how the architecture of inherited parental genomes shapes the success or breakdown of meiosis in hybrid vertebrates.