Hybridisation between species often leads to inviable or infertile offspring, yet examples of evolutionary successful interspecific hybrids have been reported in all kingdoms of life. However, many questions on the ecological circumstances and evolutionary aftermath of interspecific hybridisation remain unanswered. In this study, we sequenced and phenotyped a large set of interspecific yeast hybrids isolated from the brewing environments to uncover the influence of interspecific hybridisation in yeast adaptation and domestication. Our analyses demonstrate that several hybrids between Saccharomyces species originated and diversified in industrial environments by combining key traits of each parental species. Furthermore, post-hybridisation evolution within each hybrid lineage reflects sub-specialisation and adaptation to specific beer styles, a process that was accompanied by extensive chimerisation between subgenomes. Our results reveal how interspecific hybridisation provides an important evolutionary route that allows swift adaptation to novel environments.
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