Publications by authors named "Platts A"

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.

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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.

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Comprehensively identifying the loci shaping trait variation has been challenging, in part because standard approaches often miss many types of genetic variants. Structural variants (SVs), especially transposable elements (TEs), are likely to affect phenotypic variation but we lack methods that can detect polymorphic structural variants and TEs using short-read sequencing data. Here, we used a whole genome alignment between two maize genotypes to identify polymorphic structural variants and then genotyped a large maize diversity panel for these variants using short-read sequencing data.

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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).

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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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rice was domesticated around 10,000 years ago and is a crucial food source for about half of the world's population, yet its adaptation to varying water availability is not well understood.
  • This research employs an evolutionary systems biology approach to uncover heritable traits linked to drought resistance in rice, focusing on functional and hydraulic components.
  • The study identifies gene expression modules associated with drought avoidance and tolerance, highlighting the role of optimizing photosynthesis and fungal interactions as key adaptive strategies in water-limited conditions.
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Strawberry ( spp.) has emerged as a model system for various fundamental and applied research in recent years. In total, the genomes of five different species have been sequenced over the past 10 y.

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Plastic phenotypic responses to environmental change are common, yet we lack a clear understanding of the fitness consequences of these plastic responses. Here, we use the evolution of herbicide resistance in the common morning glory () as a model for understanding the relative importance of adaptive and maladaptive gene expression responses to herbicide. Specifically, we compare leaf gene expression changes caused by herbicide to the expression changes that evolve in response to artificial selection for herbicide resistance.

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Understanding the genomic signatures, genes, and traits underlying local adaptation of organisms to heterogeneous environments is of central importance to the field evolutionary biology. To identify loci underlying local adaptation, models that combine allelic and environmental variation while controlling for the effects of population structure have emerged as the method of choice. Despite being evaluated in simulation studies, there has not been a thorough investigation of empirical evidence supporting local adaptation across these alleles.

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Levels of gene expression underpin organismal phenotypes, but the nature of selection that acts on gene expression and its role in adaptive evolution remain unknown. Here we assayed gene expression in rice (Oryza sativa), and used phenotypic selection analysis to estimate the type and strength of selection on the levels of more than 15,000 transcripts. Variation in most transcripts appears (nearly) neutral or under very weak stabilizing selection in wet paddy conditions (with median standardized selection differentials near zero), but selection is stronger under drought conditions.

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The extent to which sequence variation impacts plant fitness is poorly understood. High-resolution maps detailing the constraint acting on the genome, especially in regulatory sites, would be beneficial as functional annotation of noncoding sequences remains sparse. Here, we present a fitness consequence (fitCons) map for rice (Oryza sativa).

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The genus is a sister-group to the core-group of the Brassicaceae family that includes and the Brassica crops. Thus, is phylogenetically well-placed for the investigation and understanding of genome and trait evolution across the family. We aimed to improve the quality of the reference genome draft version of the annual species Second, we constructed the first genetic map.

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Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are RNA glycosidases thought to function in defense against pathogens. These enzymes remove purine bases from RNAs, including rRNA; the latter activity decreases protein synthesis , which is hypothesized to limit pathogen proliferation by causing host cell death. Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) is a RIP synthesized by the American pokeweed plant ().

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Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are relevant independent outcomes in heart failure (HF) care and are predictive of subsequent hospitalization and death in HF. The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) are the 2 most widely adopted PROMs specific to HF. We compared their prognostic abilities in a prospective cohort of HF patients.

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Aims: Heart failure (HF) patients with a mid-range ejection fraction (HFmrEF) are not well characterized. Accordingly, we examined the epidemiology, pathophysiology and clinical outcomes of HF patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 40-50%.

Methods And Results: We identified 168 patients with an LVEF between 40-50% at enrollment into a HF registry, and determined whether LVEF was improved, worsened, or the same compared to a prior LVEF.

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Recent studies have shown that one of the parental subgenomes in ancient polyploids is generally more dominant, having retained more genes and being more highly expressed, a phenomenon termed subgenome dominance. The genomic features that determine how quickly and which subgenome dominates within a newly formed polyploid remain poorly understood. To investigate the rate of emergence of subgenome dominance, we examined gene expression, gene methylation, and transposable element (TE) methylation in a natural, <140-year-old allopolyploid (), a resynthesized interspecies triploid hybrid (), a resynthesized allopolyploid (), and progenitor species ( and ).

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The origin of domesticated Asian rice (Oryza sativa) has been a contentious topic, with conflicting evidence for either single or multiple domestication of this key crop species. We examined the evolutionary history of domesticated rice by analyzing de novo assembled genomes from domesticated rice and its wild progenitors. Our results indicate multiple origins, where each domesticated rice subpopulation (japonica, indica, and aus) arose separately from progenitor O.

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Coevolutionary interactions are thought to have spurred the evolution of key innovations and driven the diversification of much of life on Earth. However, the genetic and evolutionary basis of the innovations that facilitate such interactions remains poorly understood. We examined the coevolutionary interactions between plants (Brassicales) and butterflies (Pieridae), and uncovered evidence for an escalating evolutionary arms-race.

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Whole-genome duplication (WGD) events have occurred repeatedly during flowering plant evolution, and there is growing evidence for predictable patterns of gene retention and loss following polyploidization. Despite these important insights, the rate and processes governing the earliest stages of diploidization remain poorly understood, and the relative importance of genetic drift, positive selection, and relaxed purifying selection in the process of gene degeneration and loss is unclear. Here, we conduct whole-genome resequencing in Capsella bursa-pastoris, a recently formed tetraploid with one of the most widespread species distributions of any angiosperm.

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