Abstract Detail

Phylogenomics

Ganju, Anish [1], Rosales, Maribel [2], Gupta, Ishaan [3], Gowda, Vinita [4].

Evolution of gene families in Solanales.

The prevalence of polyploidy in the wild is rare, and even when polyploids are formed they tend to undergo fractionation events to return to their original ploidy levels. The formation of these polyploids however may affect certain gene families that were selected at the time of these stressor events which may influence their overall evolution. Here in this study we compare the wild and cultivar varieties from two plant families- Solanaceae and Convolvulaceae, to learn about the influence of WGM events, on the evolution of the gene families. The availability of well annotated data that could be mined from sources online such as Sol Genome Network and NCBI was an additional factor in the favour of their utilization. Our primary goal was to explore links between morphologies and gene families and to study whether the presence of these genes can be attributed to events of gene gain or gene loss. For this we used a combination of comparative genomics, homology detection and reconciliation methods. A new software, REvolutionH-tl was utilized for the reconciliation method and was able to successfully reconcile gene and species trees, and our results show congruence, i.e, the gene trees do not differ from the species tree and are in concordance with the species history of the study. The gene families chosen for this analysis are critical from an agriculture as well as an evolutionary perspective were NBS-LRR which is a family of genes conferring resistance to a broad spectrum of pathogens, including Phytophthora infestans, the causative organism of late blight in potato and tomato; and Frigida which is integral to the natural variations in flowering time. We proposed that the presence of these genes should provide selective advantages to plants throughout its evolutionary history and should be under positive selection. However, contrary to our expectation we did not observe this in both the plant families. Our results show that all genes within the gene family of Frigida seem to have evolved at about the same evolutionary time and thus can be attributed to a singular causal event, while the family of NBS-LRR genes have been observed to be absent in a few selected taxa from Convolvulaceae. We also observed that the gene family Frigida was absent in plant species that have a history of artificial selection i.e. cultivar species, suggesting that loss of a functionally important gene could be attributed to artificial selection.

1 - Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, Biological Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal Bypass Road, Bhauri, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (MP), 462066, India
2 - CINVESTAV Irapuato, Departamento de Ingeniería Genética, Km. 9.6 Libramiento NorteCarr. Irapuato-León, Irapuato, Guanajuato, 36824 , Mexico
3 - Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Department of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Block I, Room No.224, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, Delhi, Delhi, 110 016, India
4 - IISER Bhopal, Room 223, AB3, Dept. Of Biological Sciences,, IISER- Bhopal, Bhopal Bypass Road, Bhauri,, Bhopal, MP, 462066, India

Keywords:
polyploidy
Solanaceae
Convolvulaceae
gene families
Reconciliation
phylogenetic trees.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: PHYLOV, Phylogenomics V
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Friday, July 23rd, 2021
Time: 4:30 PM(EDT)
Number: PHYLOV007
Abstract ID:1102
Candidate for Awards:None