Auto Tag: population genomic

April 21, 2020  |  

The Chinese chestnut genome: a reference for species restoration

Forest tree species are increasingly subject to severe mortalities from exotic pests, diseases, and invasive organisms, accelerated by climate change. Forest health issues are threatening multiple species and ecosystem sustainability globally. While sources of resistance may be available in related species, or among surviving trees, introgression of resistance genes into threatened tree species in reasonable time frames requires genome-wide breeding tools. Asian species of chestnut (Castanea spp.) are being employed as donors of disease resistance genes to restore native chestnut species in North America and Europe. To aid in the restoration of threatened chestnut species, we present the assembly of a reference genome with chromosome-scale sequences for Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima), the disease-resistance donor for American chestnut restoration. We also demonstrate the value of the genome as a platform for research and species restoration, including new insights into the evolution of blight resistance in Asian chestnut species, the locations in the genome of ecologically important signatures of selection differentiating American chestnut from Chinese chestnut, the identification of candidate genes for disease resistance, and preliminary comparisons of genome organization with related species.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Insect genomes: progress and challenges.

In the wake of constant improvements in sequencing technologies, numerous insect genomes have been sequenced. Currently, 1219 insect genome-sequencing projects have been registered with the National Center for Biotechnology Information, including 401 that have genome assemblies and 155 with an official gene set of annotated protein-coding genes. Comparative genomics analysis showed that the expansion or contraction of gene families was associated with well-studied physiological traits such as immune system, metabolic detoxification, parasitism and polyphagy in insects. Here, we summarize the progress of insect genome sequencing, with an emphasis on how this impacts research on pest control. We begin with a brief introduction to the basic concepts of genome assembly, annotation and metrics for evaluating the quality of draft assemblies. We then provide an overview of genome information for numerous insect species, highlighting examples from prominent model organisms, agricultural pests and disease vectors. We also introduce the major insect genome databases. The increasing availability of insect genomic resources is beneficial for developing alternative pest control methods. However, many opportunities remain for developing data-mining tools that make maximal use of the available insect genome resources. Although rapid progress has been achieved, many challenges remain in the field of insect genomics. © 2019 The Royal Entomological Society.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Biogeography and Microscale Diversity Shape the Biosynthetic Potential of Fungus-growing Ant-associated Pseudonocardia

The geographic and phylogenetic scale of ecologically relevant microbial diversity is still poorly understood. Using a model mutualism, fungus-growing ants and their defensive bacterial associate Pseudonocardia, we analyzed genetic diversity and biosynthetic potential in 46 strains isolated from ant colonies in a 20km transect near Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Despite an average pairwise core genome similarity of greater than 99%, population genomic analysis revealed several distinct bacterial populations matching ant host geographic distribution. We identified both genetic diversity signatures and divergent genes distinct to each lineage. We also identify natural product biosynthesis clusters specific to isolation locations. These geographic patterns were observable despite the populations living in close proximity to each other and provides evidence of ongoing genetic exchange. Our results add to the growing body of literature suggesting that variation in traits of interest can be found at extremely fine phylogenetic scales.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Strengths and potential pitfalls of hay-transfer for ecological restoration revealed by RAD-seq analysis in floodplain Arabis species

Achieving high intraspecific genetic diversity is a critical goal in ecological restoration as it increases the adaptive potential and long-term resilience of populations. Thus, we investigated genetic diversity within and between pristine sites in a fossil floodplain and compared it to sites restored by hay-transfer between 1997 and 2014. RAD-seq genotyping revealed that the stenoecious flood-plain species Arabis nemorensis is co-occurring with individuals that, based on ploidy, ITS-sequencing and morphology, probably belong to the close relative Arabis sagittata, which has a documented preference for dry calcareous grasslands but has not been reported in floodplain meadows. We show that hay-transfer maintains genetic diversity for both species. Additionally, in A. sagittata, transfer from multiple genetically isolated pristine sites resulted in restored sites with increased diversity and admixed local genotypes. In A. nemorensis, transfer did not create novel admixture dynamics because genetic diversity between pristine sites was less differentiated. Thus, the effects of hay-transfer on genetic diversity also depend on the genetic makeup of the donor communities of each species, especially when local material is mixed. Our results demonstrate the efficiency of hay-transfer for habitat restoration and emphasize the importance of pre-restoration characterization of micro-geographic patterns of intraspecific diversity of the community to guarantee that restoration practices reach their goal, i.e. maximize the adaptive potential of the entire restored plant community. Overlooking these patterns may alter the balance between species in the community. Additionally, our comparison of summary statistics obtained from de novo and reference-based RAD-seq pipelines shows that the genomic impact of restoration can be reliably monitored in species lacking prior genomic knowledge.

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April 21, 2020  |  

The genomes of pecan and Chinese hickory provide insights into Carya evolution and nut nutrition.

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and Chinese hickory (C. cathayensis) are important commercially cultivated nut trees in the genus Carya (Juglandaceae), with high nutritional value and substantial health benefits.We obtained >187.22 and 178.87 gigabases of sequence, and ~288× and 248× genome coverage, to a pecan cultivar (“Pawnee”) and a domesticated Chinese hickory landrace (ZAFU-1), respectively. The total assembly size is 651.31 megabases (Mb) for pecan and 706.43 Mb for Chinese hickory. Two genome duplication events before the divergence from walnut were found in these species. Gene family analysis highlighted key genes in biotic and abiotic tolerance, oil, polyphenols, essential amino acids, and B vitamins. Further analyses of reduced-coverage genome sequences of 16 Carya and 2 Juglans species provide additional phylogenetic perspective on crop wild relatives.Cooperative characterization of these valuable resources provides a window to their evolutionary development and a valuable foundation for future crop improvement. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Comparative Transcriptomic Profiling of Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 and O:8 Reveals Major Expression Differences of Fitness- and Virulence-Relevant Genes Indicating Ecological Separation.

Yersinia enterocolitica is a zoonotic pathogen and an important cause of bacterial gastrointestinal infections in humans. Large-scale population genomic analyses revealed genetic and phenotypic diversity of this bacterial species, but little is known about the differences in the transcriptome organization, small RNA (sRNA) repertoire, and transcriptional output. Here, we present the first comparative high-resolution transcriptome analysis of Y. enterocolitica strains representing highly pathogenic phylogroup 2 (serotype O:8) and moderately pathogenic phylogroup 3 (serotype O:3) grown under four infection-relevant conditions. Our transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) approach revealed 1,299 and 1,076 transcriptional start sites and identified strain-specific sRNAs that could contribute to differential regulation among the phylogroups. Comparative transcriptomics further uncovered major gene expression differences, in particular, in the temperature-responsive regulon. Multiple virulence-relevant genes are differentially regulated between the two strains, supporting an ecological separation of phylogroups with certain niche-adapted properties. Strong upregulation of the ystA enterotoxin gene in combination with constitutive high expression of cell invasion factor InvA further showed that the toxicity of recent outbreak O:3 strains has increased. Overall, our report provides new insights into the specific transcriptome organization of phylogroups 2 and 3 and reveals gene expression differences contributing to the substantial phenotypic differences that exist between the lineages. IMPORTANCE Yersinia enterocolitica is a major diarrheal pathogen and is associated with a large range of gut-associated diseases. Members of this species have evolved into different phylogroups with genotypic variations. We performed the first characterization of the Y. enterocolitica transcriptional landscape and tracked the consequences of the genomic variations between two different pathogenic phylogroups by comparing their RNA repertoire, promoter usage, and expression profiles under four different virulence-relevant conditions. Our analysis revealed major differences in the transcriptional outputs of the closely related strains, pointing to an ecological separation in which one is more adapted to an environmental lifestyle and the other to a mostly mammal-associated lifestyle. Moreover, a variety of pathoadaptive alterations, including alterations in acid resistance genes, colonization factors, and toxins, were identified which affect virulence and host specificity. This illustrates that comparative transcriptomics is an excellent approach to discover differences in the functional output from closely related genomes affecting niche adaptation and virulence, which cannot be directly inferred from DNA sequences.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Comprehensive evaluation of non-hybrid genome assembly tools for third-generation PacBio long-read sequence data.

Long reads obtained from third-generation sequencing platforms can help overcome the long-standing challenge of the de novo assembly of sequences for the genomic analysis of non-model eukaryotic organisms. Numerous long-read-aided de novo assemblies have been published recently, which exhibited superior quality of the assembled genomes in comparison with those achieved using earlier second-generation sequencing technologies. Evaluating assemblies is important in guiding the appropriate choice for specific research needs. In this study, we evaluated 10 long-read assemblers using a variety of metrics on Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) data sets from different taxonomic categories with considerable differences in genome size. The results allowed us to narrow down the list to a few assemblers that can be effectively applied to eukaryotic assembly projects. Moreover, we highlight how best to use limited genomic resources for effectively evaluating the genome assemblies of non-model organisms. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Inter-chromosomal coupling between vision and pigmentation genes during genomic divergence.

Recombination between loci underlying mate choice and ecological traits is a major evolutionary force acting against speciation with gene flow. The evolution of linkage disequilibrium between such loci is therefore a fundamental step in the origin of species. Here, we show that this process can take place in the absence of physical linkage in hamlets-a group of closely related reef fishes from the wider Caribbean that differ essentially in colour pattern and are reproductively isolated through strong visually-based assortative mating. Using full-genome analysis, we identify four narrow genomic intervals that are consistently differentiated among sympatric species in a backdrop of extremely low genomic divergence. These four intervals include genes involved in pigmentation (sox10), axial patterning (hoxc13a), photoreceptor development (casz1) and visual sensitivity (SWS and LWS opsins) that develop islands of long-distance and inter-chromosomal linkage disequilibrium as species diverge. The relatively simple genomic architecture of species differences facilitates the evolution of linkage disequilibrium in the presence of gene flow.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Population Genomic Analysis and De Novo Assembly Reveal the Origin of Weedy Rice as an Evolutionary Game.

Crop weediness, especially that of weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea), remains mysterious. Weedy rice possesses robust ecological adaptability; however, how this strain originated and gradually formed proprietary genetic features remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that weedy rice at Asian high latitudes (WRAH) is phylogenetically well defined and possesses unselected genomic characteristics in many divergence regions between weedy and cultivated rice. We also identified novel quantitative trait loci underlying weedy-specific traits, and revealed that a genome block on the end of chromosome 1 is associated with rice weediness. To identify the genomic modifications underlying weedy rice evolution, we generated the first de novo assembly of a high-quality weedy rice genome (WR04-6), and conducted a comparative genomics study between WR04-6 with other rice reference genomes. Multiple lines of evidence, including the results of demographic scenario comparisons, suggest that differentiation between weedy rice and cultivated rice was initiated by genetic improvement of cultivated rice and that the essence of weediness arose through semi-domestication. A plant height model further implied that the origin of WRAH can be modeled as an evolutionary game and indicated that strategy-based selection driven by fitness shaped its genomic diversity.Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Patterns of non-ARD variation in more than 300 full-length HLA-DPB1 alleles.

Our understanding of sequence variation in the HLA-DPB1 gene is largely restricted to the hypervariable antigen recognition domain (ARD) encoded by exon 2. Here, we employed a redundant sequencing strategy combining long-read and short-read data to accurately phase and characterise in full length the majority of common and well-documented (CWD) DPB1 alleles as well as alleles with an observed frequency of at least 0.0006% in our predominantly European sample set. We generated 664 DPB1 sequences, comprising 279 distinct allelic variants. This allows us to present the, to date, most comprehensive analysis of the nature and extent of DPB1 sequence variation. The full-length sequence analysis revealed the existence of two highly diverged allele clades. These clades correlate with the rs9277534 A???G variant, a known expression marker located in the 3′-UTR. The two clades are fully differentiated by 174 fixed polymorphisms throughout a 3.6?kb stretch at the 3′-end of DPB1. The region upstream of this differentiation zone is characterised by increasingly shared variation between the clades. The low-expression A clade comprises 59% of the distinct allelic sequences including the three by far most frequent DPB1 alleles, DPB1*04:01, DPB1*02:01 and DPB1*04:02. Alleles in the A clade show reduced nucleotide diversity with an excess of rare variants when compared to the high-expression G clade. This pattern is consistent with a scenario of recent proliferation of A-clade alleles. The full-length characterisation of all but the most rare DPB1 alleles will benefit the application of NGS for DPB1 genotyping and provides a helpful framework for a deeper understanding of high- and low-expression alleles and their implications in the context of unrelated haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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April 21, 2020  |  

The red bayberry genome and genetic basis of sex determination.

Morella rubra, red bayberry, is an economically important fruit tree in south China. Here, we assembled the first high-quality genome for both a female and a male individual of red bayberry. The genome size was 313-Mb, and 90% sequences were assembled into eight pseudo chromosome molecules, with 32 493 predicted genes. By whole-genome comparison between the female and male and association analysis with sequences of bulked and individual DNA samples from female and male, a 59-Kb region determining female was identified and located on distal end of pseudochromosome 8, which contains abundant transposable element and seven putative genes, four of them are related to sex floral development. This 59-Kb female-specific region was likely to be derived from duplication and rearrangement of paralogous genes and retained non-recombinant in the female-specific region. Sex-specific molecular markers developed from candidate genes co-segregated with sex in a genetically diverse female and male germplasm. We propose sex determination follow the ZW model of female heterogamety. The genome sequence of red bayberry provides a valuable resource for plant sex chromosome evolution and also provides important insights for molecular biology, genetics and modern breeding in Myricaceae family. © 2018 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Medaka Population Genome Structure and Demographic History Described via Genotyping-by-Sequencing.

Medaka is a model organism in medicine, genetics, developmental biology and population genetics. Lab stocks composed of more than 100 local wild populations are available for research in these fields. Thus, medaka represents a potentially excellent bioresource for screening disease-risk- and adaptation-related genes in genome-wide association studies. Although the genetic population structure should be known before performing such an analysis, a comprehensive study on the genome-wide diversity of wild medaka populations has not been performed. Here, we performed genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) for 81 and 12 medakas captured from a bioresource and the wild, respectively. Based on the GBS data, we evaluated the genetic population structure and estimated the demographic parameters using an approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) framework. The genome-wide data confirmed that there were substantial differences between local populations and supported our previously proposed hypothesis on medaka dispersal based on mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) data. A new finding was that a local group that was thought to be a hybrid between the northern and the southern Japanese groups was actually an origin of the northern Japanese group. Thus, this paper presents the first population-genomic study of medaka and reveals its population structure and history based on chromosomal genetic diversity.Copyright © 2019 by the Genetics Society of America.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Multiple modes of convergent adaptation in the spread of glyphosate-resistant Amaranthus tuberculatus.

The selection pressure exerted by herbicides has led to the repeated evolution of herbicide resistance in weeds. The evolution of herbicide resistance on contemporary timescales in turn provides an outstanding opportunity to investigate key questions about the genetics of adaptation, in particular the relative importance of adaptation from new mutations, standing genetic variation, or geographic spread of adaptive alleles through gene flow. Glyphosate-resistant Amaranthus tuberculatus poses one of the most significant threats to crop yields in the Midwestern United States, with both agricultural populations and herbicide resistance only recently emerging in Canada. To understand the evolutionary mechanisms driving the spread of resistance, we sequenced and assembled the A. tuberculatus genome and investigated the origins and population genomics of 163 resequenced glyphosate-resistant and susceptible individuals from Canada and the United States. In Canada, we discovered multiple modes of convergent evolution: in one locality, resistance appears to have evolved through introductions of preadapted US genotypes, while in another, there is evidence for the independent evolution of resistance on genomic backgrounds that are historically nonagricultural. Moreover, resistance on these local, nonagricultural backgrounds appears to have occurred predominantly through the partial sweep of a single haplotype. In contrast, resistant haplotypes arising from the Midwestern United States show multiple amplification haplotypes segregating both between and within populations. Therefore, while the remarkable species-wide diversity of A. tuberculatus has facilitated geographic parallel adaptation of glyphosate resistance, more recently established agricultural populations are limited to adaptation in a more mutation-limited framework.Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

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April 21, 2020  |  

A Species-Wide Inventory of NLR Genes and Alleles in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Infectious disease is both a major force of selection in nature and a prime cause of yield loss in agriculture. In plants, disease resistance is often conferred by nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins, intracellular immune receptors that recognize pathogen proteins and their effects on the host. Consistent with extensive balancing and positive selection, NLRs are encoded by one of the most variable gene families in plants, but the true extent of intraspecific NLR diversity has been unclear. Here, we define a nearly complete species-wide pan-NLRome in Arabidopsis thaliana based on sequence enrichment and long-read sequencing. The pan-NLRome largely saturates with approximately 40 well-chosen wild strains, with half of the pan-NLRome being present in most accessions. We chart NLR architectural diversity, identify new architectures, and quantify selective forces that act on specific NLRs and NLR domains. Our study provides a blueprint for defining pan-NLRomes.Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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