Journal article
Asexuality Associated with Marked Genomic Expansion of Tandemly Repeated rRNA and Histone Genes
Molecular biology and evolution, Vol.38(9), pp.3581-3592
08/23/2021
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab121
PMCID: PMC8382920
PMID: 33885820
Abstract
Abstract How does asexual reproduction influence genome evolution? Although is it clear that genomic structural variation is common and important in natural populations, we know very little about how one of the most fundamental of eukaryotic traits—mode of genomic inheritance—influences genome structure. We address this question with the New Zealand freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum, which features multiple separately derived obligately asexual lineages that coexist and compete with otherwise similar sexual lineages. We used whole-genome sequencing reads from a diverse set of sexual and asexual individuals to analyze genomic abundance of a critically important gene family, rDNA (the genes encoding rRNAs), that is notable for dynamic and variable copy number. Our genomic survey of rDNA in P. antipodarum revealed two striking results. First, the core histone and 5S rRNA genes occur between tandem copies of the 18S–5.8S–28S gene cluster, a unique architecture for these crucial gene families. Second, asexual P. antipodarum harbor dramatically more rDNA–histone copies than sexuals, which we validated through molecular and cytogenetic analysis. The repeated expansion of this genomic region in asexual P. antipodarum lineages following distinct transitions to asexuality represents a dramatic genome structural change associated with asexual reproduction—with potential functional consequences related to the loss of sexual reproduction.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Asexuality Associated with Marked Genomic Expansion of Tandemly Repeated rRNA and Histone Genes
- Creators
- Kyle E McElroy - Ecology, Evolutionary, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA, Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAStefan Müller - Institute of Human Genetics, Munich University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, GermanyDunja K Lamatsch - Research Department for Limnology, University of Innsbruck, Mondsee, Mondsee, AustriaLaura Bankers - Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado—Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USAPeter D Fields - Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandJoseph R Jalinsky - Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAJoel Sharbrough - Biology Department, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USAJeffrey L Boore - Providence St. Joseph Health and Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USAJohn M Logsdon - Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USAMaurine Neiman - Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA, Department of Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Contributors
- Irina Arkhipova (Editor)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Molecular biology and evolution, Vol.38(9), pp.3581-3592
- DOI
- 10.1093/molbev/msab121
- PMID
- 33885820
- PMCID
- PMC8382920
- NLM abbreviation
- Mol Biol Evol
- ISSN
- 0737-4038
- eISSN
- 1537-1719
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000001, name: National Science Foundation, award: 1122176, 1601242; name: T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research Fellowship
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/23/2021
- Academic Unit
- Office Of The Provost; Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984217527902771
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