Metagenomics of Distant Hybrids in the Genus Ribes (Grossulariaceae)

Currant–gooseberry intersectional hybrids were created artificially using the polyploidy method. In terms of morphological, palynomorphological, karyological and other characteristics, currant–gooseberry hybrids are contrasting. We performed a comparative metagenomic analysis of three distant hybrids of known origins and their parental forms using locus-specific NGS sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The ribotypes of hybrids correspond to those of the parental forms. Ribotypes of unknown origin highly homologous to other currants were found. It has been shown that most pseudogenes are not conserved in hybrids. Comparative plant metagenomics is an informative method for studying hybrids of unknown origin.