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Species delineation in microorganisms is challenging due to the limited markers available for accurate species assignment. Here, we applied an integrative taxonomy approach, combining extensive sampling, whole-genome sequence-based classification, phenotypic profiling, and assessment of interspecific reproductive isolation. Our work reveals the presence of a distinct Saccharomyces lineage in Nothofagus forests of coastal Patagonia. This lineage, designated Saccharomyces chiloensis sp. nov., exhibits 7% genetic divergence from its sister species S. uvarum, as revealed by whole-genome sequencing and population analyses. The South America-C (SA-C) coastal Patagonia population forms a unique clade closely related to a previously described divergent S. uvarum population from Oceania (AUS, found in Australia and New Zealand). Our species reclassification is supported by a low Ortho Average Nucleotide Identity (OANI) of 93% in SA-C and AUS relative to S. uvarum, which falls below the suggested species delineation threshold of 95%, indicating an independent evolutionary lineage. Hybrid spore viability assessment provided compelling evidence that SA-C and AUS are reproductively isolated from S. uvarum. In addition, we found unique structural variants between S. chiloensis sp. nov. lineages, including large-scale chromosomal translocations and inversions, together with a distinct phenotypic profile, emphasizing their intraspecies genetic distinctiveness. We suggest that S. chiloensis sp. nov diverged from S. uvarum in allopatry due to glaciation, followed by post-glacial dispersal, resulting in distinct lineages on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean. The discovery of S. chiloensis sp. nov. illustrates the uniqueness of Patagonia's coastal biodiversity and underscores the importance of adopting an integrative taxonomic approach in species delineation to unveil cryptic microbial species. The holotype of S. chiloensis sp. nov. is CBS 18620T. Author summary: Author summary Species delineation in microorganisms is challenging due to limited genetic markers and the genetic complexity of reproductive isolation. In this study, we employed an integrative taxonomy approach, combining whole-genome sequencing, phenotypic profiling, and reproductive isolation assessments, to identify Saccharomyces chiloensis sp. nov., as a new yeast species isolated from the Nothofagus forests of Coastal Patagonia. This novel species exhibits significant genetic divergence from S. uvarum and shows unique structural variants that emphasize its distinct evolutionary lineage. Furthermore, isolates belonging to this species can also be found in Australia and New Zealand, which are genetically and phenotypically different from those isolated in Patagonia. The discovery of S. chiloensis sp. nov. highlights Patagonia's biodiversity's importance and the necessity of comprehensive taxonomic approaches to reveal cryptic species in microorganisms. Our findings have broader implications for understanding yeast diversity and the evolutionary processes shaping microbial species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genome introgressions drive evolution across the animal.sup.1, plant.sup.2 and fungal.sup.3 kingdoms. Introgressions initiate from archaic admixtures followed by repeated backcrossing to one parental species. However, how introgressions arise in reproductively isolated species, such as yeast.sup.4, has remained unclear. Here we identify a clonal descendant of the ancestral yeast hybrid that founded the extant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Alpechin lineage.sup.5, which carries abundant Saccharomyces paradoxus introgressions. We show that this clonal descendant, hereafter defined as a 'living ancestor', retained the ancestral genome structure of the first-generation hybrid with contiguous S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus subgenomes. The ancestral first-generation hybrid underwent catastrophic genomic instability through more than a hundred mitotic recombination events, mainly manifesting as homozygous genome blocks generated by loss of heterozygosity. These homozygous sequence blocks rescue hybrid fertility by restoring meiotic recombination and are the direct origins of the introgressions present in the Alpechin lineage. We suggest a plausible route for introgression evolution through the reconstruction of extinct stages and propose that genome instability allows hybrids to overcome reproductive isolation and enables introgressions to emerge. A yeast clonal descendant of an ancient hybridization event is identified and sheds light on the early evolution of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Alpechin lineage and its abundant Saccharomyces paradoxus introgressions., Author(s): Melania D'Angiolo [sup.1] , Matteo De Chiara [sup.1] , Jia-Xing Yue [sup.1] , Agurtzane Irizar [sup.1] , Simon Stenberg [sup.2] [sup.3] , Karl Persson [sup.3] , Agnès Llored [sup.1] [...]

The book "Oral Narration in Iranian Cultures" edited by Maryam Nourzaei, Carina Jahani, and Agnes Korn explores the topic of orality in the Iranian world. The book is a collection of papers presented at two workshops in Paris and Uppsala in 2017 and 2018. The volume is divided into three parts, focusing on different aspects of oral narration in Persian, Balochi, and Kurdish literature. The articles cover a range of topics, including linguistic analysis, the study of oral traditions, the relationship between oral and written literature, and the localization of narratives in different regions. The book provides valuable insights into the rich oral traditions of Iranian cultures and offers a model for analyzing other Iranian languages as well. [Extracted from the article]

In this article I focus on thirty toponyms from the Swāt Valley, Pakistan, that incorporate the concepts of 'big' and 'small'. In this context, 'big' is represented by three different adjectives, loy , luth , and mahā , while for 'small' we find two different suffixes, - ṛay and - g/k/xay , as well as the adjectives woṛ and waṛukay. Among other things, I also propose a new analysis of one of the toponyms already studied in my 2020 work on the Toponymy of the Swāt Valley , Altangurai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims at dealing with the dawn of Pashto studies, from the first mention of this language, in the 16th century, till the first scientific treatises on Pashto grammar, literature and lexicology by Bernhard Dorn, published between 1840 and 1847. The questions this article tries to answer is: how was the documentation of Pashto collected? By whom? For which purpose? The aim of the following overview of all western authors who dealt with Pashto in the initial epoch is also to show how general knowledge increased more and more quickly with the military involvement in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]