Publications by authors named "Edger P"

Ancient whole-genome duplications (WGDs) are believed to facilitate novelty and adaptation by providing the raw fuel for new genes. However, it is unclear how recent WGDs may contribute to evolvability within recent polyploids. Hybridization accompanying some WGDs may combine divergent gene content among diploid species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Camelina (), an allohexaploid species, is an emerging aviation biofuel crop that has been the focus of resurgent interest in recent decades. To guide future breeding and crop improvement efforts, the community requires a deeper comprehension of subgenome dominance, often noted in allopolyploid species, "alongside an understanding of the genetic diversity" and population structure of material present within breeding programs. We conducted population genetic analyses of a diversity panel, leveraging a new genome, to estimate nucleotide diversity and population structure, and analyzed for patterns of subgenome expression dominance among different organs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fertilization is a fundamental process that triggers seed and fruit development, but the molecular mechanisms underlying fertilization-induced seed development are poorly understood. Previous research has established AGamous-Like62 (AGL62) activation and auxin biosynthesis in the endosperm as key events following fertilization in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca). To test the hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms are critical in mediating the effect of fertilization on the activation of AGL62 and auxin biosynthesis in the endosperm, we first identified and analyzed imprinted genes from the endosperm of wild strawberries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Salvia hispanica L. (Chia) is an important crop in Mesoamerica, valued for its nutritional benefits linked to fatty acids in its seeds; varieties include Chia pinta (mixed white and black) and Chia negra (black).
  • Researchers created a detailed genome assembly of the Chia pinta variety and compared it with an existing Chia negra genome, finding high genetic similarity and identifying more terpene synthase genes in Chia pinta.
  • The study also sequenced 20 different Chia accessions based on seed color and origin, shedding light on the population structure and complex evolutionary history of the Salvia genus, which includes evidence of hybridization between species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drought stress substantially impacts crop physiology resulting in alteration of growth and productivity. Understanding the genetic and molecular crosstalk between stress responses and agronomically important traits such as fibre yield is particularly complicated in the allopolyploid species, upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), due to reduced sequence variability between A and D subgenomes. To better understand how drought stress impacts yield, the transcriptomes of 22 genetically and phenotypically diverse upland cotton accessions grown under well-watered and water-limited conditions in the Arizona low desert were sequenced.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Subgenome dominance has been reported in diverse allopolyploid species, where genes from one subgenome are preferentially retained and are more highly expressed than those from other subgenome(s). However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for subgenome dominance remain poorly understood. Here, we develop genome-wide map of accessible chromatin regions (ACRs) in cultivated strawberry (2n = 8x = 56, with A, B, C, D subgenomes).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Homoeolog expression bias and the gene dosage effect induce downregulation of genes on chromosome A7, causing a significant increase in the plant height of resynthesized allopolyploid Brassica napus. Gene expression levels in allopolyploid plants are not equivalent to the simple average of the expression levels in the parents and are associated with several non-additive expression phenomena, including homoeolog expression bias. However, hardly any information is available on the effect of homoeolog expression bias on traits.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Teleost fishes are the most diverse group of vertebrates and have a history of polyploidy, including instances of subgenome dominance where one subgenome is more expressed than the other.
  • Recent research analyzed the genomes of 21 cyprinids (like common carp and goldfish) to explore subgenome evolution after multiple allopolyploidy events.
  • The study found that subgenome dominance likely results from factors like maternal influence and the density of transposable elements, shedding light on how polyploidy affects evolution in these fishes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Anthracnose fruit rot (AFR), caused by the fungal pathogen is among the most destructive and widespread fruit disease of blueberry, impacting both yield and overall fruit quality. Blueberry cultivars have highly variable resistance against AFR. To date, this pathogen is largely controlled by applying various fungicides; thus, a more cost-effective and environmentally conscious solution for AFR is needed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Domestication of cranberry and blueberry began in the United States in the early 1800s and 1900s, respectively, and in part owing to their flavors and health-promoting benefits are now cultivated and consumed worldwide. The industry continues to face a wide variety of production challenges (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Model species continue to underpin groundbreaking plant science research. At the same time, the phylogenetic resolution of the land plant tree of life continues to improve. The intersection of these 2 research paths creates a unique opportunity to further extend the usefulness of model species across larger taxonomic groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Domestication of cranberry and blueberry began in the United States in the early 1800s and 1900s, respectively, and in part owing to their flavors and health-promoting benefits are now cultivated and consumed worldwide. The industry continues to face a wide variety of production challenges (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The gene balance hypothesis proposes that selection acts on the dosage (i.e. copy number) of genes within dosage-sensitive portions of networks, pathways, and protein complexes to maintain balanced stoichiometry of interacting proteins, because perturbations to stoichiometric balance can result in reduced fitness.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The genus Vaccinium L. (Ericaceae) contains premium berryfruit crops, including blueberry, cranberry, bilberry, and lingonberry. Consumption of Vaccinium berries is strongly associated with various potential health benefits, many of which are attributed to the relatively high concentrations of flavonoids, including the anthocyanins that provide the attractive red and blue berry colors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Allopolyploids result from hybridization between different evolutionary lineages coupled with genome doubling. Homoeologous chromosomes (chromosomes with common shared ancestry) may undergo recombination immediately after allopolyploid formation and continue over successive generations. The outcome of this meiotic pairing behavior is dynamic and complex.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Polyploidy is a major evolutionary force that has shaped plant diversity. However, the various pathways toward polyploid formation and interploidy gene flow remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that the immediate progeny of allotriploid AAC (obtained by crossing allotetraploid and diploid ) was predominantly aneuploids with ploidal levels ranging from near-triploidy to near-hexaploidy, and their chromosome numbers deviated from the theoretical distribution toward increasing chromosome numbers, suggesting that they underwent selection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The spatial organization of genes within plant genomes can drive evolution of specialized metabolic pathways. Terpenoids are important specialized metabolites in plants with diverse adaptive functions that enable environmental interactions. Here, we report the genome assemblies of Prunella vulgaris, Plectranthus barbatus, and Leonotis leonurus.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Understanding chromosome recombination behavior in polyploidy species is key to advancing genetic discoveries. In blueberry, a tetraploid species, the line of evidences about its genetic behavior still remain poorly understood, owing to the inter-specific, and inter-ploidy admixture of its genome and lack of in depth genome-wide inheritance and comparative structural studies. Here we describe a new high-quality, phased, chromosome-scale genome of a diploid blueberry, clone W85.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata) is an ancient crop with remarkable stress resilience and a desirable seed fatty acid profile for biofuel uses. Brassica carinata is one of six Brassica species that share three major genomes from three diploid species (AA, BB, and CC) that spontaneously hybridized in a pairwise manner to form three allotetraploid species (AABB, AACC, and BBCC). Of the genomes of these species, that of B.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The genus L. (Ericaceae) contains a wide diversity of culturally and economically important berry crop species. Consumer demand and scientific research in blueberry ( spp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

By modeling the homoeologous gene losses that occurred in 50 genomes deriving from ten distinct polyploidy events, we show that the evolutionary forces acting on polyploids are remarkably similar, regardless of whether they occur in flowering plants, ciliates, fishes, or yeasts. We show that many of the events show a relative rate of duplicate gene loss before the first postpolyploidy speciation that is significantly higher than in later phases of their evolution. The relatively weak selective constraint experienced by the single-copy genes these losses produced leads us to suggest that most of the purely selectively neutral duplicate gene losses occur in the immediate postpolyploid period.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Transposable elements (TEs) are powerful creators of genotypic and phenotypic diversity due to their inherent mutagenic capabilities and in this way they serve as a deep reservoir of sequences for genomic variation. As agents of genetic disruption, a TE's potential to impact phenotype is partially a factor of its location in the genome. Previous research has shown TEs' ability to impact the expression of neighboring genes, however our understanding of this trend is hampered by the exceptional amount of diversity in the TE world, and a lack of publicly available computational methods that quantify the presence of TEs relative to genes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Harnessing the plant microbiome has the potential to improve agricultural yields and protect plants against pathogens and/or abiotic stresses, while also relieving economic and environmental costs of crop production. While previous studies have gained valuable insights into the underlying genetics facilitating plant-fungal interactions, these have largely been skewed towards certain fungal clades (e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on Fragaria nilgerrensis, a wild relative of strawberries that thrives in various habitats in China, which could help improve strawberry cultivars for different environments.
  • Researchers conducted whole-genome resequencing of 193 individuals to analyze genetic diversity and the factors influencing local adaptation, finding that environmental conditions play a more significant role in genetic variation than geographical distance.
  • By identifying genetic variations linked to local adaptation through selective sweeps and genome-environment associations, the study highlights potential candidate genes that may aid in the understanding of adaptive traits in F. nilgerrensis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF