- New preprint! We investigated the evolution of supergenes and mechanisms underlying distyly in Linum species that diverged ca 33 Mya. 1/8 bsky.app/profile/bior...
- Genomic studies in Linum shed light on the evolution of the distyly supergene and the molecular basis of convergent floral evolution biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- Based on haplotype-resolved genome assemblies, we genetically mapped the S-loci of L. perenne and L. grandiflorum and compared them to the previously characterized S-locus of L. tenue. 2/8
- We find that all Linum S-loci we studied are hemizygous in the short-styled morph, but the S-loci of L. perenne and L. grandiflorum are considerably larger than that of L. tenue, most likely due to accumulation of repetitive sequences. 3/8
- Only two genes are conserved at the S-loci of L. perenne, L. grandiflorum, and L. tenue: the style length candidate gene TSS1 and the anther height/pollen self-incompatibility gene WDR-44. 4/8
- We use paralog dating to estimate that WDR-44 first became co-localized with TSS1 ca 37 Mya, suggesting an ancient origin of the distyly S-locus in Linum. 5/8
- Conservation at the sequence level of TSS1 is accompanied by a conserved, morph-specific effect of brassinosteroids on style length in distylous L. tenue and L. perenne. 6/8
- Our results in combination with those in e.g. Turnera and Primula suggest that convergent evolution of style length polymorphism might frequently involve the brassinosteroid pathway. 7/8
- This work would not have been possible without the efforts of lead authors @panazerv.bsky.social & @zopos.bsky.social , expert experimental work by Aleksandra Losvik, sequencing by @scilifelab-ngi.bsky.social and bioinformatic support from @mafraca.bsky.social @estellepw.bsky.social and @nbis.se 8/8
