Asexual reproduction can be triggered by interspecific hybridization, but its emergence is supposedly rare, relying on exceptional combinations of suitable genomes. To examine how genomic and karyotype divergence between parental lineages affect the incidence of asexual gametogenesis, we experimentally hybridized fishes (Cobitidae) across a broad phylogenetic spectrum, assessed by whole exome data. Gametogenic pathways generally followed a continuum from sexual reproduction in hybrids between closely related evolutionary lineages to sterile or inviable crosses between distant lineages. However, most crosses resulted in a combination of sterile males and asexually reproducing females. Their gametes usually experienced problems in chromosome pairing, but females also produced a certain proportion of oocytes with premeiotically duplicated genomes, enabling their development into clonal eggs. Interspecific hybridization may thus commonly affect cell cycles in a specific way, allowing the formation of unreduced oocytes. The emergence of asexual gametogenesis appears tightly linked to hybrid sterility and constitutes an inherent part of the extended speciation continuum.

Department of Biology and Ecology Faculty of Science University of Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic

Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Vodnany Czech Republic

Laboratory of Cell Regeneration and Plasticity Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the CAS Liběchov Czech Republic

Laboratory of Fish genetics Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the CAS Liběchov Czech Republic

Laboratory of Non Mendelian Evolution Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics of the CAS Libechov Czech Republic

Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries IGB Berlin Germany

Military Health Institute Military Medical Agency Prague Czech Republic

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