Yeast researchers need model systems for ecology and evolution, but the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not ideal because its evolution has been affected by domestication. Instead, ecologists and evolutionary biologists are focusing on close relatives of S. cerevisiae: the seven species in the genus Saccharomyces. The best-studied Saccharomyces yeast, after S. cerevisiae, is S. paradoxus, an oak tree resident throughout the northern hemisphere. In addition, several more members of the Saccharomyces genus have recently been discovered. Some Saccharomyces species are only found in nature, while others include both wild and domesticated strains. Comparisons between domesticated and wild yeasts have pinpointed hybridization, introgression, and high phenotypic diversity as signatures of domestication. But studies of wild Saccharomyces natural history, biogeography, and ecology are only beginning. Much remains to understand about wild yeasts' ecological interactions and life cycles in nature. We encourage researchers to continue to investigate Saccharomyces yeasts in nature, both to place S. cerevisiae biology into its ecological context, and to develop the Saccharomyces genus as a model clade for ecology and evolution.
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