No abstract

Our findings uncover the molecule framework controlling the polyp-to-jellyfish transition in a basal metazoan and provide insights into the evolution of complex life cycles in the animal kingdom.

No abstract

Understanding evolutionary interactions among crops and weeds can facilitate effective weed management. For example, gene flow from crops to their wild or weedy relatives can lead to rapid evolution in recipient populations. In rice (Oryza sativa), transgenic herbicide resistance is expected to spread to conspecific weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) via hybridization.Here, we studied fitness effects of transgenic over-expression of a native 5-enolpyruvoylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (epsps) gene developed to confer glyphosate resistance in rice. Controlling for genetic background, we examined physiological traits and field performance of crop–weed hybrid lineages that segregated for the presence or absence of this novel epsps transgene.Surprisingly, we found that transgenic F2 crop–weed hybrids produced 48–125% more seeds per plant than nontransgenic controls in monoculture- and mixed-planting designs without glyphosate application. Transgenic plants also had greater EPSPS protein levels, tryptophan concentrations, photosynthetic rates, and per cent seed germination compared with nontransgenic controls.Our findings suggest that over-expression of a native rice epsps gene can lead to fitness advantages, even without exposure to glyphosate. We hypothesize that over-expressed epsps may be useful to breeders and, if deployed, could result in fitness benefits in weedy relatives following transgene introgression.

Whole-genome duplication (WGD) events have occurred repeatedly during flowering plant evolution, and there is growing evidence for predictable patterns of gene retention and loss following polyploidization. Despite these important insights, the rate and processes governing the earliest stages of diploidization remain poorly understood, and the relative importance of genetic drift, positive selection, and relaxed purifying selection in the process of gene degeneration and loss is unclear. Here, we conduct whole-genome resequencing in Capsella bursa-pastoris, a recently formed tetraploid with one of the most widespread species distributions of any angiosperm. Whole-genome data provide strong support for recent hybrid origins of the tetraploid species within the past 100,000-300,000 y from two diploid progenitors in the Capsella genus. Major-effect inactivating mutations are frequent, but many were inherited from the parental species and show no evidence of being fixed by positive selection. Despite a lack of large-scale gene loss, we observe a decrease in the efficacy of natural selection genome-wide due to the combined effects of demography, selfing, and genome redundancy from WGD. Our results suggest that the earliest stages of diploidization are associated with quantitative genome-wide decreases in the strength and efficacy of selection rather than rapid gene loss, and that nonfunctionalization can receive a "head start" through a legacy of deleterious variants and differential expression originating in parental diploid populations.polyploidy | population genomics | speciation | gene loss