Polyploidy and genome evolution in plants

Pamela S Soltis; D Blaine Marchant; Yves Van de Peer; Douglas E Soltis

doi:10.1016/j.gde.2015.11.003

Polyploidy and genome evolution in plants

Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2015 Dec:35:119-25. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2015.11.003. Epub 2015 Dec 2.

Authors

Pamela S Soltis¹, D Blaine Marchant², Yves Van de Peer³, Douglas E Soltis⁴

Affiliations

¹ Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. Electronic address: psoltts@flmnh.ufl.edu.
² Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
³ Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University and Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, B-9052, Ghent B-9052, Belgium; Bioinformatics Institute Ghent, Ghent University, B-9052, Ghent B-9052, Belgium; Genomics Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
⁴ Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

PMID: 26656231
DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2015.11.003

Abstract

Plant genomes vary in size and complexity, fueled in part by processes of whole-genome duplication (WGD; polyploidy) and subsequent genome evolution. Despite repeated episodes of WGD throughout the evolutionary history of angiosperms in particular, the genomes are not uniformly large, and even plants with very small genomes carry the signatures of ancient duplication events. The processes governing the evolution of plant genomes following these ancient events are largely unknown. Here, we consider mechanisms of diploidization, evidence of genome reorganization in recently formed polyploid species, and macroevolutionary patterns of WGD in plant genomes and propose that the ongoing genomic changes observed in recent polyploids may illustrate the diploidization processes that result in ancient signatures of WGD over geological timescales.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Biological Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Duplication / genetics*
Genome Size / genetics
Genome, Plant / genetics*
Plants / genetics*
Polyploidy*