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IN BRIEF

Ancient Polyploidy in the Sister Families Brassicaceae and Cleomaceae

Recent studies suggest that Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae) experienced at least one genome duplication event between 15 and 86 million years ago, possibly near the divergence of the Brassicaceae from its sister family Cleomaceae. Schranz and Mitchell-Olds (pages 1152–1165) used a comparative genomics approach to examine whether this polyploidy event was unique to the Brassicaceae, shared with the Cleomaceae, or whether there were independent polyploidy events in each lineage. The Cleome spinosa (Cleomaceae) genome is just 1.9 times the size of A. thaliana, facilitating comparative genome analysis. The authors sequenced three genomic regions from diploid C. spinosa, each of which is homoeologous to a duplicated region shared between the At5 and At3 chromosomes. Phylogenetic reconstructions and synonymous substitution rates support the hypothesis that a genomic triplication in C. spinosa occurred independently of and more recently than the duplication event in the Arabidopsis lineage. Interestingly, a strong correlation was found in the copy number (single versus duplicate) of individual genes between the two lineages, suggesting that similar evolutionary constraints have influenced gene copy in these two independently evolving lineages.

View larger version (101K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Cleome spinosa. (With permission from Andreas Hoffmann; http://www.flickr.com/photos/124330160.)

Related articles in Plant Cell:

Independent Ancient Polyploidy Events in the Sister Families Brassicaceae and Cleomaceae

M. Eric Schranz and Thomas Mitchell-Olds
Plant Cell 2006 18: 1152-1165. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Plant Cell Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Eckardt, N. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Eckardt, N. A. Agricola Articles by Eckardt, N. A.