Comparative genome analyses highlight transposon-mediated genome expansion shapes the evolutionary architecture of 3D genomic folding in cotton
Abstract Transposable element (TE) amplification has been recognized as a driving force mediating genome size expansion and evolution, but the effect on shaping of 3D genomic architecture remains largely unknown in plants. Here, we report three reference-grade cotton genome assemblies of Gossypium rotundifolium (K2), G. arboreum (A2) and G. raimondii (D5) using Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology. Comparative genome analyses document the details of lineage-specific TE amplification contributing to three-fold change of genome size (K2, 2.44 Gb; A2, 1.62 Gb; D5, 750.19 Mb), and indicate a relatively conserved gene content and synteny relationship among genomes. We found that approximately 17% of syntenic genes exhibit chromatin status switching of A/B compartment, and active TE amplification increases the proportion of A compartment in gene regions in K2 and A2 relative to D5. We also found that only 42% of topologically associating domain (TAD) boundaries were conserved by comparing three genomes, and abundant TE amplification was linked to the organization of lineage-specific TADs. This study sheds light on the regulatory role of transposon-mediated genome expansion in the evolution of higher-order chromatin structure in plants.