Summary Transposable elements (TEs) represent an important fraction of plant genomes and are likely to play a pivotal role in fuelling genome reorganization and functional changes following allopolyploidization. Various processes associated with allopolyploidy (i.e. genetic redundancy, bottlenecks during the formation of allopolyploids or genome shock following genome merging) may allow accumulation of TE insertions. Our objective in carrying out a survey of the literature and a comparative analysis across different allopolyploid systems is to shed light on the structural, epigenetic and functional modifications driven by TEs during allopolyploidization and subsequent diploidization. The available evidence indicates that TE proliferation in the short or the long term after allopolyploidization may be restricted to a few TEs, in specific polyploid systems. By contrast, data indicate major structural changes in the TE genome fraction immediately after allopolyploidization, mainly through losses of TE sequences as a result of recombination. Emerging evidence also suggests that TEs are targeted by substantial epigenetic changes, which may impact gene expression and genome stability. Furthermore, TEs may directly or indirectly support the evolution of new functionalities in allopolyploids during diploidization. All data stress allopolyploidization as a shock associated with drastic genome reorganization. Mechanisms controlling TEs during allopolyploidization as well as their impact on diploidization are discussed.
18S-5.6S-25S and 5S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sites were located by in situ hybridization to the three main species of the Saccharum genus. For each species and each rDNA family, the position and number of sites in the various cytotypes suggested the presence of one locus and basic chromosome numbers of 10 for Saccharum officinarum and Saccharum robustum and\i 8 forSaccharum spontaneum. The implications of these results for the genetic maps of modern cultivars derived from crosses between the species S. officinarum and S. spontaneum are discussed.Key words: sugarcane, Saccharum, 18S-5.6S-25S rRNA, 5S rRNA, basic chromosome number, in situ hybridization.
The success of polyploidy, displacing the diploid ancestors of almost all plants, is well illustrated by the huge angiosperm diversity that is assumed to originate from recurrent polyploidization events. Strikingly, polyploidization often occurred prior to or simultaneously with major evolutionary transitions and adaptive radiation of species, supporting the concept that polyploidy plays a predominant role in bursts of adaptive speciation. Polyploidy results in immediate genetic redundancy and represents, with the emergence of new gene functions, an important source of novelty. Along with recombination, gene mutation, transposon activity and chromosomal rearrangement, polyploidy and whole-genome duplication act as drivers of evolution and divergence in plant behaviour and gene function, enabling diversification, speciation and hence plant evolution.
BackgroundNext-generation sequencing technologies have revolutionized the study of small RNAs (sRNAs) on a genome-wide scale. However, classical sRNA library preparation methods introduce serious bias, mainly during adapter ligation steps. Several types of sRNA including plant microRNAs (miRNA), piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNA) in insects, nematodes and mammals, and small interfering RNAs (siRNA) in insects and plants contain a 2’-O-methyl (2’-OMe) modification at their 3′ terminal nucleotide. This inhibits 3′ adapter ligation and makes library preparation particularly challenging. To reduce bias, the NEBNext kit (New England Biolabs) uses polyethylene glycol (PEG), the NEXTflex V2 kit (BIOO Scientific) uses both randomised adapters and PEG, and the novel SMARTer (Clontech) and CATS (Diagenode) kits avoid ligation altogether. Here we compared these methods with Illumina’s classical TruSeq protocol regarding the detection of normal and 2’ OMe RNAs. In addition, we modified the TruSeq and NEXTflex protocols to identify conditions that improve performance.ResultsAmong the five kits tested with their respective standard protocols, the SMARTer and CATS kits had the lowest levels of bias but also had a strong formation of side products, and as a result performed relatively poorly with biological samples; NEXTflex detected the largest numbers of different miRNAs. The use of a novel type of randomised adapters called MidRand-Like (MRL) adapters and PEG improved the detection of 2’ OMe RNAs both in the TruSeq as well as in the NEXTflex protocol.ConclusionsWhile it is commonly accepted that biases in sRNA library preparation protocols are mainly due to adapter ligation steps, the ligation-free protocols were not the best performing methods. Our modified versions of the TruSeq and NEXTflex protocols provide an improved tool for the study of 2’ OMe RNAs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-4491-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
The past decades have revealed an unexpected yet prominent role of so-called 'junk DNA' in the regulation of gene expression, thereby challenging our view of the mechanisms underlying phenotypic evolution. In particular, several mechanisms through which transposable elements (TEs) participate in functional genome diversity have been depicted, bringing to light the 'TEs bright side'. However, the relative contribution of those mechanisms and, more generally, the importance of TE-based polymorphisms on past and present phenotypic variation in crops species remain poorly understood. Here, we review current knowledge on both issues, and discuss how analyses of massively parallel sequencing data combined with statistical methodologies and functional validations will help unravelling the impact of TEs on crop evolution in a near future.
While there has been progress in our understanding of the origin and history of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, a unified perspective is still lacking on where and how major crops were domesticated in the region. Here, we investigated the domestication of African yam (Dioscorea rotundata), a key crop in early African agriculture. Using whole-genome resequencing and statistical models, we show that cultivated yam was domesticated from a forest species. We infer that the expansion of African yam agriculture started in the Niger River basin. This result, alongside with the origins of African rice and pearl millet, supports the hypothesis that the vicinity of the Niger River was a major cradle of African agriculture.
Summary• Polyploidy, or whole genome duplication, is a major evolutionary process that has shaped eukaryotic genomes, notably those of flowering plants. The mechanisms underlying the regulation of, and sharing of functions between, the duplicated genes originating from polyploidy events, which lead to novel phenotypes, remain to be elucidated.• A previous comparative proteomic study identified 360 proteins that were differentially regulated between the diploid Brassica progenitors and their synthetic allotetraploid derivatives. For 102 of these proteins, using the same resynthesized Brassica napus allotetraploids, we assayed the accumulation of the transcripts of the corresponding genes. We compared transcript levels quantified in the synthetic allotetraploids with the mid-parent expression values.• Although all of the genes surveyed encoded nonadditive proteins, we found that two-thirds of them had additive transcript levels, indicating that most of the differential protein regulation is not explained by transcriptional changes.• Our data suggest that differential protein regulation is mainly governed by posttranscriptional modifications. Summarizing available data from transcriptomic studies of other synthetic allopolyploid models, we describe the general trends of transcript regulation in an allopolyploid genome and discuss putative underlying molecular mechanisms, with particular emphasis on the small RNA pathway for the post-transcriptional control of gene expression.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.