scholarly journals The chromosome-level genome of dragon fruit reveals whole-genome duplication and chromosomal co-localization of betacyanin biosynthetic genes

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinfang Zheng ◽  
Lyndel W. Meinhardt ◽  
Ricardo Goenaga ◽  
Dapeng Zhang ◽  
Yanbin Yin

AbstractDragon fruits are tropical fruits economically important for agricultural industries. As members of the family of Cactaceae, they have evolved to adapt to the arid environment. Here we report the draft genome of Hylocereus undatus, commercially known as the white-fleshed dragon fruit. The chromosomal level genome assembly contains 11 longest scaffolds corresponding to the 11 chromosomes of H. undatus. Genome annotation of H. undatus found ~29,000 protein-coding genes, similar to Carnegiea gigantea (saguaro). Whole-genome duplication (WGD) analysis revealed a WGD event in the last common ancestor of Cactaceae followed by extensive genome rearrangements. The divergence time between H. undatus and C. gigantea was estimated to be 9.18 MYA. Functional enrichment analysis of orthologous gene clusters (OGCs) in six Cactaceae plants found significantly enriched OGCs in drought resistance. Fruit flavor-related functions were overrepresented in OGCs that are significantly expanded in H. undatus. The H. undatus draft genome also enabled the discovery of carbohydrate and plant cell wall-related functional enrichment in dragon fruits treated with trypsin for a longer storage time. Lastly, genes of the betacyanin (a red-violet pigment and antioxidant with a very high concentration in dragon fruits) biosynthetic pathway were found to be co-localized on a 12 Mb region of one chromosome. The consequence may be a higher efficiency of betacyanin biosynthesis, which will need experimental validation in the future. The H. undatus draft genome will be a great resource to study various cactus plants.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srinidhi Varadharajan ◽  
Simen R. Sandve ◽  
Gareth B. Gillard ◽  
Ole K. Tørresen ◽  
Teshome D. Mulugeta ◽  
...  

AbstractWhole genome duplication (WGD) has been a major evolutionary driver of increased genomic complexity in vertebrates. One such event occurred in the salmonid family ~80 million years ago (Ss4R) giving rise to a plethora of structural and regulatory duplicate-driven divergence, making salmonids an exemplary system to investigate the evolutionary consequences of WGD. Here, we present a draft genome assembly of European grayling (Thymallus thymallus) and use this in a comparative framework to study evolution of gene regulation following WGD. Among the Ss4R duplicates identified in European grayling and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), one third reflect non-neutral tissue expression evolution, with strong purifying selection, maintained over ~50 million years. Of these, the majority reflect conserved tissue regulation under strong selective constraints related to brain and neural-related functions, as well as higher-order protein-protein interactions. A small subset of the duplicates has evolved tissue regulatory expression divergence in a common ancestor, which have been subsequently conserved in both lineages, suggestive of adaptive divergence following WGD. These candidates for adaptive tissue expression divergence have elevated rates of protein coding- and promoter-sequence evolution and are enriched for immune- and lipid metabolism ontology terms. Lastly, lineage-specific duplicate divergence points towards underlying differences in adaptive pressures on expression regulation in the non-anadromous grayling versus the anadromous Atlantic salmon.Our findings enhance our understanding of the role of WGD in genome evolution and highlights cases of regulatory divergence of Ss4R duplicates, possibly related to a niche shift in early salmonid evolution.


Author(s):  
Conghui Liu ◽  
Yuwei Ren ◽  
Zaiyuan Li ◽  
Qi Hu ◽  
Lijuan Yin ◽  
...  

AbstractWhole-genome duplication (WGD) has been observed across a wide variety of eukaryotic groups, contributing to evolutionary diversity and environmental adaptability. Mollusks are the second largest group of animals, and are among the organisms that have successfully adapted to the nonmarine realm through aquatic-terrestrial (A-T) transition, and no comprehensive research on WGD has been reported in this group. To explore WGD and the A-T transition in Mollusca, we assembled a chromosome-level reference genome for the giant African snail Achatina immaculata, a global invasive species, and compared the genomes of two giant African snails (A. immaculata and Achatina fulica) to the other available mollusk genomes. The chromosome-level macrosynteny, colinearity blocks, Ks peak and Hox gene clusters collectively suggested the occurrence of a WGD event shared by A. immaculata and A. fulica. The estimated timing of this WGD event (∼70 MYA) was close to the speciation age of the Sigmurethra-Orthurethra (within Stylommatophora) lineage and the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass extinction, indicating that the WGD reported herein may have been a common event shared by all Sigmurethra-Orthurethra species and could have conferred ecological adaptability and genomic plasticity allowing the survival of the K-T extinction. Based on macrosynteny, we deduced an ancestral karyotype containing 8 conserved clusters for the Gastropoda-Bivalvia lineage. To reveal the mechanism of WGD in shaping adaptability to terrestrial ecosystems, we investigated gene families related to the respiration, aestivation and immune defense of giant African snails. Several mucus-related gene families expanded early in the Stylommatophora lineage, functioning in water retention, immune defense and wound healing. The hemocyanins, PCK and FBP families were doubled and retained after WGD, enhancing the capacity for gas exchange and glucose homeostasis in aestivation. After the WGD, zinc metalloproteinase genes were highly tandemly duplicated to protect tissue against ROS damage. This evidence collectively suggests that although the WGD may not have been the direct driver of the A-T transition, it provided an important legacy for the terrestrial adaptation of the giant African snail.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Gainett ◽  
Vanessa L. González ◽  
Jesús A. Ballesteros ◽  
Emily V. W. Setton ◽  
Caitlin M. Baker ◽  
...  

AbstractChelicerates exhibit dynamic evolution of genome architecture, with multiple whole genome duplication events affecting groups like spiders, scorpions, and horseshoe crabs. Yet, genomes remain unavailable for several chelicerate orders, such as Opiliones (harvestmen), which has hindered comparative genomics and developmental genetics across arachnids. We assembled a draft genome of the daddy-long-legs Phalangium opilio, which revealed no signal of whole genome duplication. To test the hypothesis that single-copy Hox genes of the harvestman exhibit broader functions than subfunctionalized spider paralogs, we performed RNA interference against Deformed in P. opilio. Knockdown of Deformed incurred homeotic transformation of the two anterior pairs of walking legs into pedipalpal identity; by comparison, knockdown of the spatially restricted paralog Deformed-A in the spider affects only the first walking leg. To investigate the genetic basis for leg elongation and tarsomere patterning, we identified and interrogated the function of an Epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) homolog. Knockdown of Egfr incurred shortened appendages and the loss of distal leg structures. The overlapping phenotypic spectra of Egfr knockdown experiments in the harvestman and multiple insect models are striking because tarsomeres have evolved independently in these groups. Our results suggest a conserved role for Egfr in patterning distal leg structures across arthropods, as well as cooption of EGFR signaling in tarsomere patterning in both insects and arachnids. The establishment of genomic resources for P. opilio, together with functional investigations of appendage fate specification and distal patterning mechanisms, are key steps in understanding how daddy-long-legs make their long legs.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (3) ◽  
pp. 1249-1257
Author(s):  
Ilya Ruvinsky ◽  
Lee M Silver ◽  
Jeremy J Gibson-Brown

Abstract The duplication of preexisting genes has played a major role in evolution. To understand the evolution of genetic complexity it is important to reconstruct the phylogenetic history of the genome. A widely held view suggests that the vertebrate genome evolved via two successive rounds of whole-genome duplication. To test this model we have isolated seven new T-box genes from the primitive chordate amphioxus. We find that each amphioxus gene generally corresponds to two or three vertebrate counterparts. A phylogenetic analysis of these genes supports the idea that a single whole-genome duplication took place early in vertebrate evolution, but cannot exclude the possibility that a second duplication later took place. The origin of additional paralogs evident in this and other gene families could be the result of subsequent, smaller-scale chromosomal duplications. Our findings highlight the importance of amphioxus as a key organism for understanding evolution of the vertebrate genome.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth B. Gillard ◽  
Lars Grønvold ◽  
Line L. Røsæg ◽  
Matilde Mengkrog Holen ◽  
Øystein Monsen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Whole genome duplication (WGD) events have played a major role in eukaryotic genome evolution, but the consequence of these extreme events in adaptive genome evolution is still not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, we used a comparative phylogenetic model and transcriptomic data from seven species to infer selection on gene expression in duplicated genes (ohnologs) following the salmonid WGD 80–100 million years ago. Results We find rare cases of tissue-specific expression evolution but pervasive expression evolution affecting many tissues, reflecting strong selection on maintenance of genome stability following genome doubling. Ohnolog expression levels have evolved mostly asymmetrically, by diverting one ohnolog copy down a path towards lower expression and possible pseudogenization. Loss of expression in one ohnolog is significantly associated with transposable element insertions in promoters and likely driven by selection on gene dosage including selection on stoichiometric balance. We also find symmetric expression shifts, and these are associated with genes under strong evolutionary constraints such as ribosome subunit genes. This possibly reflects selection operating to achieve a gene dose reduction while avoiding accumulation of “toxic mutations”. Mechanistically, ohnolog regulatory divergence is dictated by the number of bound transcription factors in promoters, with transposable elements being one likely source of novel binding sites driving tissue-specific gains in expression. Conclusions Our results imply pervasive adaptive expression evolution following WGD to overcome the immediate challenges posed by genome doubling and to exploit the long-term genetic opportunities for novel phenotype evolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Rai ◽  
Hideki Hirakawa ◽  
Ryo Nakabayashi ◽  
Shinji Kikuchi ◽  
Koki Hayashi ◽  
...  

AbstractPlant genomes remain highly fragmented and are often characterized by hundreds to thousands of assembly gaps. Here, we report chromosome-level reference and phased genome assembly of Ophiorrhiza pumila, a camptothecin-producing medicinal plant, through an ordered multi-scaffolding and experimental validation approach. With 21 assembly gaps and a contig N50 of 18.49 Mb, Ophiorrhiza genome is one of the most complete plant genomes assembled to date. We also report 273 nitrogen-containing metabolites, including diverse monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs). A comparative genomics approach identifies strictosidine biogenesis as the origin of MIA evolution. The emergence of strictosidine biosynthesis-catalyzing enzymes precede downstream enzymes’ evolution post γ whole-genome triplication, which occurred approximately 110 Mya in O. pumila, and before the whole-genome duplication in Camptotheca acuminata identified here. Combining comparative genome analysis, multi-omics analysis, and metabolic gene-cluster analysis, we propose a working model for MIA evolution, and a pangenome for MIA biosynthesis, which will help in establishing a sustainable supply of camptothecin.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 2741-2760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhicheng Zhang ◽  
Heleen Coenen ◽  
Philip Ruelens ◽  
Rashmi R. Hazarika ◽  
Tareq Al Hindi ◽  
...  

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