Molecular digitization of 689 vascular plant species from the Ruili Botanical Garden (Giga Science)
Plant Science Research WeeklyRecent advances in genome sequencing have increased our understanding of plant evolution and provided insights into factors affecting agriculturally important traits (e.g., yield, stress tolerance). There is an impetus to increase the quantity and quality of genomes publically available with around 350…
Dramatic changes in repeat element content and gene family sizes underlie the high-altitude adaptation of rock-cress (PNAS)
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe ability to grow on the ‘roof of the world’ - the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, makes Crucihimalaya himalaica (Rock-cress) an important model for studying adaptive evolution. A draft genome sequence of C. himalaica reported by Zhang et al. now provides clues to its speciation and ecological adaptation.…
Review: Copy Number Variations shaping plant domestication (Trends Plant Sci)
Plant Science Research WeeklyHuman-associated plant domestication is a co-evolutionary process that began at least 12,000 years ago. However, the genetic variations underlying many domestication traits are still unknown. In this review, Lye and Purugganan discuss how copy number variations (CNVs) have played an important role in…
Convergent gene loss in aquatic plants predicts new components of plant immunity and drought response (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants transitioned from water to land around 450 Million years ago. Since their emergence onto land, there have been at least a few reversion events to aquatic environments (e.g., duckweed, humped bladderwort). These big evolutionary events imply adaptation to completely different kinds of biotic and…
Rapid evolution of protein diversity by de novo origination in Oryza (Nature Ecol Evol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe de-novo origin of new protein-coding genes from non-coding regions of plant genomes is a contributor to protein diversity, although it has been difficult to quantify to what extent this process occurs. High quality reference genome maps, deep transcriptome and targeted proteome sequencing are requisite…
A rich evolutionary history of transposable element families in the maize genome (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research WeeklyTransposable elements (TEs) make up nearly ~85% of the maize genome. Stitzer et al. report a comprehensive analysis of diverse TE families in maize based on the improved annotation of the updated B73 genome assembly. The authors found all of the known plant TE superfamilies in the maize genome, with…
Impact of Biolistic Transformation on the Genome
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellLiu et al. show that biolistic transformation can cause extensive damage and rearrangements, including deletions, duplications, chromosome fusions, and copy number variations. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00613
By Jianing Liu and R. Kelly Dawe, Department of Genetics, University…
Evolutionary origins of pseudogenes and association with regulatory sequences (Plant Cell)
Plant Science Research WeeklyProtein-coding genes have undergone frameshifts, in-frame stop codons, and truncation to produce pseudogenes (Ψs), which had been thought to be non-functional. Recently, Ψs have been shown to play regulatory roles in gene expression by acting as a source of small interfering RNAs or sequestering microRNAs.…
Understanding leaf shape development and diversity in Brassicaceae (New Phytol) ($)
Plant Science Research WeeklyMany economically important crops are in the Brassicaceae family, such as cabbage, mustard, and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Recently, the systematics of Brassicaceae has assigned most of the species to 52 monophyletic groupings (tribes). However, relationships along the backbone of the phylogeny…