A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi

Background: Gene loss, inversions, translocations, and other chromosomal rearrangements vary among species, resulting in different rates of structural genome evolution. Major chromosomal rearrangements are rare in most eukaryotes, giving large regions with the same genes in the same order and orient...

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Main Authors: Hane, J., Rouxel, T., Howlett, B., Kema, G., Goodwin, S., Oliver, Richard
Format: Journal Article
Published: N R C Research Press 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8254
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author Hane, J.
Rouxel, T.
Howlett, B.
Kema, G.
Goodwin, S.
Oliver, Richard
author_facet Hane, J.
Rouxel, T.
Howlett, B.
Kema, G.
Goodwin, S.
Oliver, Richard
author_sort Hane, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Gene loss, inversions, translocations, and other chromosomal rearrangements vary among species, resulting in different rates of structural genome evolution. Major chromosomal rearrangements are rare in most eukaryotes, giving large regions with the same genes in the same order and orientation across species. These regions of macrosynteny have been very useful for locating homologous genes in different species and to guide the assembly of genome sequences. Previous analyses in the fungi have indicated that macrosynteny is rare; instead, comparisons across species show no synteny or only microsyntenic regions encompassing usually five or fewer genes. To test the hypothesis that chromosomal evolution is different in the fungi compared to other eukaryotes, synteny was compared between species of the major fungal taxa. Results: These analyses identified a novel form of evolution in which genes are conserved within homologous chromosomes, but with randomized orders and orientations. This mode of evolution is designated mesosynteny, to differentiate it from micro-and macrosynteny seen in other organisms. Mesosynteny is an alternative evolutionary pathway very different from macrosyntenic conservation. Surprisingly, mesosynteny was not found in all fungal groups. Instead, mesosynteny appears to be restricted to filamentous Ascomycetes and was most striking between species in the Dothideomycetes. Conclusions: The existence of mesosynteny between relatively distantly related Ascomycetes could be explained by a high frequency of chromosomal inversions, but translocations must be extremely rare. The mechanism for this phenomenon is not known, but presumably involves generation of frequent inversions during meiosis.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-82542017-09-13T16:03:55Z A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi Hane, J. Rouxel, T. Howlett, B. Kema, G. Goodwin, S. Oliver, Richard Phylogeny Genome Sequence Synteny Organization Conservation Medicago-Truncatula Pathogen Stagonospora-Nodorum Wheat Gene-Transfer Neurospora-Crassa Background: Gene loss, inversions, translocations, and other chromosomal rearrangements vary among species, resulting in different rates of structural genome evolution. Major chromosomal rearrangements are rare in most eukaryotes, giving large regions with the same genes in the same order and orientation across species. These regions of macrosynteny have been very useful for locating homologous genes in different species and to guide the assembly of genome sequences. Previous analyses in the fungi have indicated that macrosynteny is rare; instead, comparisons across species show no synteny or only microsyntenic regions encompassing usually five or fewer genes. To test the hypothesis that chromosomal evolution is different in the fungi compared to other eukaryotes, synteny was compared between species of the major fungal taxa. Results: These analyses identified a novel form of evolution in which genes are conserved within homologous chromosomes, but with randomized orders and orientations. This mode of evolution is designated mesosynteny, to differentiate it from micro-and macrosynteny seen in other organisms. Mesosynteny is an alternative evolutionary pathway very different from macrosyntenic conservation. Surprisingly, mesosynteny was not found in all fungal groups. Instead, mesosynteny appears to be restricted to filamentous Ascomycetes and was most striking between species in the Dothideomycetes. Conclusions: The existence of mesosynteny between relatively distantly related Ascomycetes could be explained by a high frequency of chromosomal inversions, but translocations must be extremely rare. The mechanism for this phenomenon is not known, but presumably involves generation of frequent inversions during meiosis. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8254 10.1186/gb-2011-12-5-r45 N R C Research Press fulltext
spellingShingle Phylogeny
Genome Sequence
Synteny
Organization
Conservation
Medicago-Truncatula
Pathogen Stagonospora-Nodorum
Wheat
Gene-Transfer
Neurospora-Crassa
Hane, J.
Rouxel, T.
Howlett, B.
Kema, G.
Goodwin, S.
Oliver, Richard
A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi
title A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi
title_full A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi
title_fullStr A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi
title_full_unstemmed A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi
title_short A novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous Ascomycete fungi
title_sort novel mode of chromosomal evolution peculiar to filamentous ascomycete fungi
topic Phylogeny
Genome Sequence
Synteny
Organization
Conservation
Medicago-Truncatula
Pathogen Stagonospora-Nodorum
Wheat
Gene-Transfer
Neurospora-Crassa
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8254