Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH BRIEFINGS

Deadly mismatch between nuclear and mitochondrial genes in swordtail fish hybrids

An analysis of the genomes of hybrids of distinct swordtail fish species uncovered a lethal incompatibility between certain combinations of nuclear and mitochondrial genes that encode subunits of complex I — a component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. The evolutionary history of this incompatibility indicates that the genes involved were transferred between the species through hybridization in the past.

This is a summary of: Moran, B. M. et al. A lethal mitonuclear incompatibility in complex I of natural hybrids. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06895-8 (2024).

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03842-5

‘Expert opinion’ and the figure are published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

References

  1. Dobzhansky, T. Am. Nat. 71, 404–420 (1937).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Kuzmin, E. et al. Science 360, eaao1729 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Maheshwari, S. & Barbash, D. A. Annu. Rev. Genet. 45, 331–355 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Orr, H. A. Genetics 139, 1805–1813 (1995).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Burton, R. S. & Barreto, F. S. Mol. Ecol. 21, 4942–4957 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links