Extensive genome evolution distinguishes maize within a stable tribe of grasses

Stitzer, Michelle C, Seetharam, Arun S, Scheben, Armin, Hsu, Sheng-Kai, Schulz, Aimee J, AuBuchon-Elder, Taylor M, El-Walid, Mohamed, Ferebee, Taylor H, Hale, Charles O, La, Thuy, Liu, Zong-Yan, McMorrow, Sarah J, Minx, Patrick, Phillips, Alyssa R, Syring, Michael L, Wrightsman, Travis, Zhai, Jingjing, Pasquet, Rémy, McAllister, Christine A, Malcomber, Simon T, Traiperm, Paweena, Layton, Daniel J, Zhong, Jinshun, Costich, Denise E, Dawe, R Kelly, Fengler, Kevin, Harris, Charlotte, Irelan, Zach, Llaca, Victor, Parakkal, Praveena, Zastrow-Hayes, Gina, Woodhouse, Margaret R, Cannon, Ethalinda K, Portwood, John L, Andorf, Carson M, Albert, Patrice S, Birchler, James A, Siepel, Adam, Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey, Romay, M Cinta, Kellogg, Elizabeth A, Buckler, Edward S, Hufford, Matthew B (January 2025) Extensive genome evolution distinguishes maize within a stable tribe of grasses. bioRxiv. ISSN 2692-8205 (Public Dataset) (Submitted)

[thumbnail of 10.1101.2025.01.22.633974.pdf]
Preview
PDF
10.1101.2025.01.22.633974.pdf - Submitted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (13MB) | Preview

Abstract

Over the last 20 million years, the Andropogoneae tribe of grasses has evolved to dominate 17% of global land area. Domestication of these grasses in the last 10,000 years has yielded our most productive crops, including maize, sugarcane, and sorghum. The majority of Andropogoneae species, including maize, show a history of polyploidy – a condition that, while offering the evolutionary advantage of multiple gene copies, poses challenges to basic cellular processes, gene expression, and epigenetic regulation. Genomic studies of polyploidy have been limited by sparse sampling of taxa in groups with multiple polyploidy events. Here, we present 33 genome assemblies from 27 species, including chromosome-scale assemblies of maize relatives Zea and Tripsacum. In maize, the after-effects of polyploidy have been widely studied, showing reduced chromosome number, biased fractionation of duplicate genes, and transposable element (TE) expansions. While we observe these patterns within the genus Zea, 12 other polyploidy events deviate significantly. Those tetraploids and hexaploids retain elevated chromosome number, maintain nearly complete complements of duplicate genes, and have only stochastic TE amplifications. These genomes reveal variable outcomes of polyploidy, challenging simple predictions and providing a foundation for understanding its evolutionary implications in an ecologically and economically important clade.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: organism description > plant > maize
organism description > plant
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Siepel lab
SWORD Depositor: CSHL Elements
Depositing User: CSHL Elements
Date: 24 January 2025
Date Deposited: 04 Feb 2025 13:07
Last Modified: 04 Feb 2025 13:07
PMCID: PMC11785232
Related URLs:
Dataset ID:
  • BioProject: PRJEB50280
  • https://github.com/HuffordLab/panand_genome_evolution
  • https://github.com/mcstitzer/panand_assemblies
  • https://mcstitzer.github.io/panand_assemblies/
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/41788

Actions (login required)

Administrator's edit/view item Administrator's edit/view item