Distant Hybridization

Abstract

Distant or wide hybridization is the mating between individuals of different species or genera that combines diverged genomes into one nucleus. This process breaks the species barrier for gene transfer. It enables transfer of whole genome of one species to another, thus inflicting changes in genotypes and phenotypes of the progenies. Many of the day-to-day crop plants are the result of natural distant hybridization and speciation. The origin of many allopolyploid species is through chromosome doubling of wide hybrids. Repeated backcrossing of wide hybrids to their parents is yet another way of gene introgression. This happens through infiltration of chromosomes or chromosome fragments from one species to another.