Comparative transcriptome analysis of Trichosporon fungal hybrids

We investigated, via RNA-sequencing, the transcriptome profiles of five Trichosporon fungi species: T. asahii, T. coremiiforme, T. faecale, T. inkin, and T. ovoides. T. coremiiforme and T. ovoides are hybrid species derived from close relatives of T. asahii and T. inkin, respectively. Our primary goal was to study the impact of genome hybridization on the evolution of gene expression by characterizing differences in transcriptome profiles between the two hybrids and their non-hybrid relatives and between homeologous gene copies within each hybrid. Samples from both log and stationary growth phases were collected.