Uncovering genes involved in pollinator-driven mating system shifts and selfing syndrome evolution in Brassica rapa
OPEN ACCESS
Loading...
Author / Producer
Date
2024-08
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
Citations
Altmetric
OPEN ACCESS
Data
Abstract
Shifts in pollinator occurrence and their pollen transport effectiveness drive the evolution of mating systems in flowering plants. Understanding the genomic basis of these changes is essential for predicting the persistence of a species under environmental changes. We investigated the genomic changes in Brassica rapa over nine generations of pollination by hoverflies associated with rapid morphological evolution toward the selfing syndrome. We combined a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach with a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify candidate genes, and assessed their functional role in the observed morphological changes by studying mutations of orthologous genes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We found 31 candidate genes involved in a wide range of functions from DNA/RNA binding to transport. Our functional assessment of orthologous genes in A. thaliana revealed that two of the identified genes in B. rapa are involved in regulating the size of floral organs. We found a protein kinase superfamily protein involved in petal width, an important trait in plant attractiveness to pollinators. Moreover, we found a histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT) associated with stamen length. Altogether, our study shows that hoverfly pollination leads to rapid evolution toward the selfing syndrome mediated by polygenic changes.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
243 (3)
Pages / Article No.
1220 - 1230
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Arabidopsis thaliana; Brassica rapa; Episyphrus balteatus; functional analysis; genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS); genome-wide association study (GWAS); hoverflies; mating system