Evolution and Plasticity of Genome-Wide Meiotic Recombination Rates.

Sex, as well as meiotic recombination between homologous chromosomes, is nearly ubiquitous among eukaryotes. In those species that use it, recombination is important for chromosome segregation during gamete production, and thus for fertility. Strikingly, although in most species only one crossover event per chromosome is required to ensure proper segregation, recombination rates vary considerably above this minimum and show variation within and among species. However, whether this variation in recombination is adaptive or neutral and what might shape it remain unclear. Empirical studies and theory support the idea that recombination is generally beneficial but can also have costs. Here, we review variation in genome-wide recombination rates, explore what might cause this, and discuss what is known about its mechanistic basis. We end by discussing the environmental sensitivity of meiosis and recombination rates, how these features may relate to adaptation, and their implications for a broader understanding of recombination rate evolution.

Species-wide genetic incompatibility analysis identifies immune genes as hot spots of deleterious epistasis.

Intraspecific genetic incompatibilities prevent the assembly of specific alleles into single genotypes and influence genome- and species-wide patterns of sequence variation. A common incompatibility in plants is hybrid necrosis, characterized by autoimmune responses due to epistatic interactions between natural genetic variants. By systematically testing thousands of F1 hybrids of Arabidopsis thaliana strains, we identified a small number of incompatibility hot spots in the genome, often in regions densely populated by nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) immune receptor genes. In several cases, these immune receptor loci interact with each other, suggestive of conflict within the immune system. A particularly dangerous locus is a highly variable cluster of NLR genes, DM2, which causes multiple independent incompatibilities with genes that encode a range of biochemical functions, including NLRs. Our findings suggest that deleterious interactions of immune receptors limit the combinations of favorable disease resistance alleles accessible to plant genomes.

Partial cytological diploidization of neoautotetraploid meiosis by induced cross-over rate reduction.

Polyploids, which arise from whole-genome duplication events, have contributed to genome evolution throughout eukaryotes. Among plants, novel features of neopolyploids include traits that can be evolutionarily or agriculturally beneficial, such as increased abiotic stress tolerance. Thus, in addition to being interesting from an evolutionary perspective, genome duplication is also increasingly recognized as a promising crop improvement tool. However, newly formed (neo)polyploids commonly suffer from fertility problems, which have been attributed to abnormal associations among the multiple homologous chromosome copies during meiosis (multivalents). Here, we test the long-standing hypothesis that reducing meiotic cross-over number may be sufficient to limit multivalent formation, favoring diploid-like bivalent associations (cytological diploidization). To do so, we developed Arabidopsis thaliana lines with low cross-over rates by combining mutations for HEI10 and TAF4b. Double mutants showed a reduction of ~33% in cross-over numbers in diploids without compromising meiotic stability. Neopolyploids derived from the double mutant show a cross-over rate reduction of about 40% relative to wild-type neotetraploids, and groups of four homologs indeed formed fewer multivalents and more bivalents. However, we also show that the reduction in multivalents comes with the cost of a slightly increased frequency of univalents and that it does not rescue neopolyploid fertility. Thus, while our results do show that reducing cross-over rates can reduce multivalent frequency in neopolyploids, they also emphasize that there are additional factors affecting both meiotic stability and neopolyploid fertility that will need to be considered in solving the neopolyploid fertility challenge.

Genetics of adaptation.

The rediscovery of Mendel's work showing that the heredity of phenotypes is controlled by discrete genes was followed by the reconciliation of Mendelian genetics with evolution by natural selection in the middle of the last century with the Modern Synthesis. In the past two decades, dramatic advances in genomic methods have facilitated the identification of the loci, genes, and even individual mutations that underlie phenotypic variants that are the putative targets of natural selection. Moreover, these methods have also changed how we can study adaptation by flipping the problem around, allowing us to first examine what loci show evidence of having been under selection, and then connecting these genetic variants to phenotypic variation. As a result, we now have an expanding list of actual genetic changes that underlie potentially adaptive phenotypic variation. Here, we synthesize how considering the effects of these adaptive loci in the context of cellular environments, genomes, organisms, and populations has provided new insights to the genetic architecture of adaptation.

The meiotic cohesin subunit REC8 contributes to multigenic adaptive evolution of autopolyploid meiosis in Arabidopsis arenosa.

Genome duplication, which leads to polyploidy, poses challenges to the meiotic segregation of the now-multiple homologous chromosome copies. Genome scan data showed previously that adaptation to polyploid meiosis in autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa is likely multigenic, involving genes encoding interacting proteins. But what does this really mean? Functional follow-up studies to genome scans for multigenic traits remain rare in most systems, and thus many mysteries remain about the "functional architecture" of polygenic adaptations. Do different genes all contribute subtle and additive progression towards a fitness optimum, or are there more complex interactions? We previously showed that derived alleles of genes encoding two interacting meiotic axis proteins (ASY1 and ASY3) have additive functional consequences for meiotic adaptation. Here we study derived versus ancestral alleles of the meiotic cohesin subunit REC8, which has roles in chromatin condensation, recruiting the axes, and other critical functions in meiosis. We use genetic and cytological approaches to assess the functional effects of REC8 diploid versus tetraploid alleles, as well as their interaction with ancestral versus derived alleles of ASY1 and ASY3. We show that homozygotes for derived (tetraploid) REC8 alleles have significantly fewer unpaired univalents, a common problem in neotetraploids. Interactions with ASY1 and ASY3 are complex, with the genes in some cases affecting distinct traits, and additive or even antagonistic effects on others. These findings suggest that the road to meiotic adaptation in A. arenosa was perhaps neither straight nor smooth.

Derived alleles of two axis proteins affect meiotic traits in autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa.

Polyploidy, which results from whole genome duplication (WGD), has shaped the long-term evolution of eukaryotic genomes in all kingdoms. Polyploidy is also implicated in adaptation, domestication, and speciation. Yet when WGD newly occurs, the resulting neopolyploids face numerous challenges. A particularly pernicious problem is the segregation of multiple chromosome copies in meiosis. Evolution can overcome this challenge, likely through modification of chromosome pairing and recombination to prevent deleterious multivalent chromosome associations, but the molecular basis of this remains mysterious. We study mechanisms underlying evolutionary stabilization of polyploid meiosis using Arabidopsis arenosa, a relative of A. thaliana with natural diploid and meiotically stable autotetraploid populations. Here we investigate the effects of ancestral (diploid) versus derived (tetraploid) alleles of two genes, ASY1 and ASY3, that were among several meiosis genes under selection in the tetraploid lineage. These genes encode interacting proteins critical for formation of meiotic chromosome axes, long linear multiprotein structures that form along sister chromatids in meiosis and are essential for recombination, chromosome segregation, and fertility. We show that derived alleles of both genes are associated with changes in meiosis, including reduced formation of multichromosome associations, reduced axis length, and a tendency to more rod-shaped bivalents in metaphase I. Thus, we conclude that ASY1 and ASY3 are components of a larger multigenic solution to polyploid meiosis in which individual genes have subtle effects. Our results are relevant for understanding polyploid evolution and more generally for understanding how meiotic traits can evolve when faced with challenges.

Genome management and mismanagement--cell-level opportunities and challenges of whole-genome duplication.

Whole-genome duplication (WGD) doubles the DNA content in the nucleus and leads to polyploidy. In whole-organism polyploids, WGD has been implicated in adaptability and the evolution of increased genome complexity, but polyploidy can also arise in somatic cells of otherwise diploid plants and animals, where it plays important roles in development and likely environmental responses. As with whole organisms, WGD can also promote adaptability and diversity in proliferating cell lineages, although whether WGD is beneficial is clearly context-dependent. WGD is also sometimes associated with aging and disease and may be a facilitator of dangerous genetic and karyotypic diversity in tumorigenesis. Scaling changes can affect cell physiology, but problems associated with WGD in large part seem to arise from problems with chromosome segregation in polyploid cells. Here we discuss both the adaptive potential and problems associated with WGD, focusing primarily on cellular effects. We see value in recognizing polyploidy as a key player in generating diversity in development and cell lineage evolution, with intriguing parallels across kingdoms.

De Novo Mutation and Rapid Protein (Co-)evolution during Meiotic Adaptation in Arabidopsis arenosa.

A sudden shift in environment or cellular context necessitates rapid adaptation. A dramatic example is genome duplication, which leads to polyploidy. In such situations, the waiting time for new mutations might be prohibitive; theoretical and empirical studies suggest that rapid adaptation will largely rely on standing variation already present in source populations. Here, we investigate the evolution of meiosis proteins in Arabidopsis arenosa, some of which were previously implicated in adaptation to polyploidy, and in a diploid, habitat. A striking and unexplained feature of prior results was the large number of amino acid changes in multiple interacting proteins, especially in the relatively young tetraploid. Here, we investigate whether selection on meiosis genes is found in other lineages, how the polyploid may have accumulated so many differences, and whether derived variants were selected from standing variation. We use a range-wide sample of 145 resequenced genomes of diploid and tetraploid A. arenosa, with new genome assemblies. We confirmed signals of positive selection in the polyploid and diploid lineages they were previously reported in and find additional meiosis genes with evidence of selection. We show that the polyploid lineage stands out both qualitatively and quantitatively. Compared with diploids, meiosis proteins in the polyploid have more amino acid changes and a higher proportion affecting more strongly conserved sites. We find evidence that in tetraploids, positive selection may have commonly acted on de novo mutations. Several tests provide hints that coevolution, and in some cases, multinucleotide mutations, might contribute to rapid accumulation of changes in meiotic proteins.

Male meiotic recombination rate varies with seasonal temperature fluctuations in wild populations of autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa.

Meiosis, the cell division by which eukaryotes produce haploid gametes, is essential for fertility in sexually reproducing species. This process is sensitive to temperature, and can fail outright at temperature extremes. At less extreme values, temperature affects the genome-wide rate of homologous recombination, which has important implications for evolution and population genetics. Numerous studies in laboratory conditions have shown that recombination rate plasticity is common, perhaps nearly universal, among eukaryotes. These studies have also shown that variation in the length or timing of stresses can strongly affect results, raising the important question whether these findings translate to more variable field conditions. Moreover, lower or higher recombination rate could cause certain kinds of meiotic aberrations, especially in polyploid species-raising the additional question whether temperature fluctuations in field conditions cause problems. Here, we tested whether (1) recombination rate varies across a season in the wild in two natural populations of autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa, (2) whether recombination rate correlates with temperature fluctuations in nature, and (3) whether natural temperature fluctuations might cause meiotic aberrations. We found that plants in two genetically distinct populations showed a similar plastic response with recombination rate increases correlated with both high and low temperatures. In addition, increased recombination rate correlated with increased multivalent formation, especially at lower temperature, hinting that polyploids in particular may suffer meiotic problems in conditions they encounter in nature. Our results show that studies of recombination rate plasticity done in laboratory settings inform our understanding of what happens in nature.

Genetic basis and evolution of rapid cycling in railway populations of tetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa.

Spatially structured plant populations with diverse adaptations provide powerful models to investigate evolution. Human-generated ruderal habitats are abundant and low-competition, but are challenging for plants not adapted to them. Ruderal habitats also sometimes form networked corridors (e.g. roadsides and railways) that allow rapid long-distance spread of successfully adapted variants. Here we use transcriptomic and genomic analyses, coupled with genetic mapping and transgenic follow-up, to understand the evolution of rapid cycling during adaptation to railway sites in autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa. We focus mostly on a hybrid population that is likely a secondary colonist of a railway site. These mountain railway plants are phenotypically similar to their cosmopolitan cousins. We thus hypothesized that colonization primarily involved the flow of adaptive alleles from the cosmopolitan railway variant. But our data shows that it is not that simple: while there is evidence of selection having acted on introgressed alleles, selection also acted on rare standing variation, and new mutations may also contribute. Among the genes we show have allelic divergence with functional relevance to flowering time are known regulators of flowering, including FLC and CONSTANS. Prior implications of these genes in weediness and rapid cycling supports the idea that these are "evolutionary hotspots" for these traits. We also find that one of two alleles of CONSTANS under selection in the secondary colonist was selected from rare standing variation in mountain populations, while the other was introgressed from the cosmopolitan railway populations. The latter allele likely arose in diploid populations over 700km away, highlighting how ruderal populations could act as allele conduits and thus influence local adaptation.

Both male and female gametogenesis require a fully functional protein S-acyl transferase 21 in Arabidopsis thaliana.

S-Acylation is a reversible post-translational lipid modification in which a long chain fatty acid covalently attaches to specific cysteine(s) of proteins via a thioester bond. It enhances the hydrophobicity of proteins, contributes to their membrane association and plays roles in protein trafficking, stability and signalling. A family of Protein S-Acyl Transferases (PATs) is responsible for this reaction. PATs are multi-pass transmembrane proteins that possess a catalytic Asp-His-His-Cys cysteine-rich domain (DHHC-CRD). In Arabidopsis, there are currently 24 such PATs, five having been characterized, revealing their important roles in growth, development, senescence and stress responses. Here, we report the functional characterization of another PAT, AtPAT21, demonstrating the roles it plays in Arabidopsis sexual reproduction. Loss-of-function mutation by T-DNA insertion in AtPAT21 results in the complete failure of seed production. Detailed studies revealed that the sterility of the mutant is caused by defects in both male and female sporogenesis and gametogenesis. To determine if the sterility observed in atpat21-1 was caused by upstream defects in meiosis, we assessed meiotic progression in pollen mother cells and found massive chromosome fragmentation and the absence of synapsis in the initial stages of meiosis. Interestingly, the fragmentation phenotype was substantially reduced in atpat21-1 spo11-1 double mutants, indicating that AtPAT21 is required for repair, but not for the formation, of SPO11-induced meiotic DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in Arabidopsis. Our data highlight the importance of protein S-acylation in the early meiotic stages that lead to the development of male and female sporophytic reproductive structures and associated gametophytes in Arabidopsis.

When everything changes at once: finding a new normal after genome duplication.

Whole-genome duplication (WGD), which leads to polyploidy, is implicated in adaptation and speciation. But what are the immediate effects of WGD and how do newly polyploid lineages adapt to them? With many studies of new and evolved polyploids now available, along with studies of genes under selection in polyploids, we are in an increasingly good position to understand how polyploidy generates novelty. Here, I will review consistent effects of WGD on the biology of plants, such as an increase in cell size, increased stress tolerance and more. I will discuss how a change in something as fundamental as cell size can challenge the function of some cell types in particular. I will also discuss what we have learned about the short- to medium-term evolutionary response to WGD. It is now clear that some of this evolutionary response may 'lock in' traits that happen to be beneficial, while in other cases, it might be more of an 'emergency response' to work around physiological changes that are either deleterious, or cannot be undone in the polyploid context. Yet, other traits may return rapidly to a diploid-like state. Polyploids may, by re-jigging many inter-related processes, find a new, conditionally adaptive, normal.

Borrowed alleles and convergence in serpentine adaptation.

Serpentine barrens represent extreme hazards for plant colonists. These sites are characterized by high porosity leading to drought, lack of essential mineral nutrients, and phytotoxic levels of metals. Nevertheless, nature forged populations adapted to these challenges. Here, we use a population-based evolutionary genomic approach coupled with elemental profiling to assess how autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa adapted to a multichallenge serpentine habitat in the Austrian Alps. We first demonstrate that serpentine-adapted plants exhibit dramatically altered elemental accumulation levels in common conditions, and then resequence 24 autotetraploid individuals from three populations to perform a genome scan. We find evidence for highly localized selective sweeps that point to a polygenic, multitrait basis for serpentine adaptation. Comparing our results to a previous study of independent serpentine colonizations in the closely related diploid Arabidopsis lyrata in the United Kingdom and United States, we find the highest levels of differentiation in 11 of the same loci, providing candidate alleles for mediating convergent evolution. This overlap between independent colonizations in different species suggests that a limited number of evolutionary strategies are suited to overcome the multiple challenges of serpentine adaptation. Interestingly, we detect footprints of selection in A. arenosa in the context of substantial gene flow from nearby off-serpentine populations of A. arenosa, as well as from A. lyrata In several cases, quantitative tests of introgression indicate that some alleles exhibiting strong selective sweep signatures appear to have been introgressed from A. lyrata This finding suggests that migrant alleles may have facilitated adaptation of A. arenosa to this multihazard environment.

The challenge of evolving stable polyploidy: could an increase in "crossover interference distance" play a central role?

Whole genome duplication is a prominent feature of many highly evolved organisms, especially plants. When duplications occur within species, they yield genomes comprising multiple identical or very similar copies of each chromosome ("autopolyploids"). Such genomes face special challenges during meiosis, the specialized cellular program that underlies gamete formation for sexual reproduction. Comparisons between newly formed (neo)-autotetraploids and fully evolved autotetraploids suggest that these challenges are solved by specific restrictions on the positions of crossover recombination events and, thus, the positions of chiasmata, which govern the segregation of homologs at the first meiotic division. We propose that a critical feature in the evolution of these more effective chiasma patterns is an increase in the effective distance of meiotic crossover interference, which plays a central role in crossover positioning. We discuss the findings in several organisms, including the recent identification of relevant genes in Arabidopsis arenosa, that support this hypothesis.

Habitat-Associated Life History and Stress-Tolerance Variation in Arabidopsis arenosa.

Weediness in ephemeral plants is commonly characterized by rapid cycling, prolific all-in flowering, and loss of perenniality. Many species made transitions to weediness of this sort, which can be advantageous in high-disturbance or human-associated habitats. The molecular basis of this shift, however, remains mostly mysterious. Here, we use transcriptome sequencing, genome resequencing scans for selection, and stress tolerance assays to study a weedy population of the otherwise nonweedy Arabidopsis arenosa, an obligately outbreeding relative of Arabidopsis thaliana Although weedy A. arenosa is widespread, a single genetic lineage colonized railways throughout central and northern Europe. We show that railway plants, in contrast to plants from sheltered outcrops in hill/mountain regions, are rapid cycling, have lost the vernalization requirement, show prolific flowering, and do not return to vegetative growth. Comparing transcriptomes of railway and mountain plants across time courses with and without vernalization, we found that railway plants have sharply abrogated vernalization responsiveness and high constitutive expression of heat- and cold-responsive genes. Railway plants also have strong constitutive heat shock and freezing tolerance compared with mountain plants, where tolerance must be induced. We found 20 genes with good evidence of selection in the railway population. One of these, LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL, is known in A. thaliana to regulate many stress-response genes that we found to be differentially regulated among the distinct habitats. Our data suggest that, beyond life history regulation, other traits like basal stress tolerance also are associated with the evolution of weediness in A. arenosa.

Activation of the Arabidopsis thaliana immune system by combinations of common ACD6 alleles.

A fundamental question in biology is how multicellular organisms distinguish self and non-self. The ability to make this distinction allows animals and plants to detect and respond to pathogens without triggering immune reactions directed against their own cells. In plants, inappropriate self-recognition results in the autonomous activation of the immune system, causing affected individuals to grow less well. These plants also suffer from spontaneous cell death, but are at the same time more resistant to pathogens. Known causes for such autonomous activation of the immune system are hyperactive alleles of immune regulators, or epistatic interactions between immune regulators and unlinked genes. We have discovered a third class, in which the Arabidopsis thaliana immune system is activated by interactions between natural alleles at a single locus, ACCELERATED CELL DEATH 6 (ACD6). There are two main types of these interacting alleles, one of which has evolved recently by partial resurrection of a pseudogene, and each type includes multiple functional variants. Most previously studies hybrid necrosis cases involve rare alleles found in geographically unrelated populations. These two types of ACD6 alleles instead occur at low frequency throughout the range of the species, and have risen to high frequency in the Northeast of Spain, suggesting a role in local adaptation. In addition, such hybrids occur in these populations in the wild. The extensive functional variation among ACD6 alleles points to a central role of this locus in fine-tuning pathogen defenses in natural populations.

Single Geographic Origin of a Widespread Autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa Lineage Followed by Interploidy Admixture.

Whole-genome duplication, which leads to polyploidy, has been implicated in speciation and biological novelty. In plants, many species exhibit ploidy variation, which is likely representative of an early stage in the evolution of polyploid lineages. To understand the evolution of such multiploidy systems, we must address questions such as whether polyploid lineage(s) had a single or multiple origins, whether admixture occurs between ploidies, and the timescale over which ploidy variation affects the evolution of populations. Here we analyze three genomic data sets using nonparametric and parametric analyses, including coalescent-based methods, to study the evolutionary history of a geographically widespread autotetraploid variant of Arabidopsis arenosa, a new model system for understanding the molecular basis of autopolyploid evolution. Autotetraploid A. arenosa populations are widely distributed across much of Northern and Central Europe, whereas diploids occur in Eastern Europe and along the southern Baltic coast; the two ploidies overlap in the Carpathian Mountains. We find that the widespread autotetraploid populations we sampled likely arose from a single ancestral population approximately 11,000-30,000 generations ago in the Northern Carpathians, where its closest extant diploid relatives are found today. Afterward, the tetraploid population split into at least four major lineages that colonized much of Europe. Reconstructions of population history suggest that substantial interploidy admixture occurred in both directions, but only among geographically proximal populations. We find two cases in which selection likely acted on an introgressed locus, suggesting that persistent interploidy gene flow has a local influence on patterns of genetic variation in A. arenosa.

Selection on meiosis genes in diploid and tetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa.

Meiotic chromosome segregation is critical for fertility across eukaryotes, and core meiotic processes are well conserved even between kingdoms. Nevertheless, recent work in animals has shown that at least some meiosis genes are highly diverse or strongly differentiated among populations. What drives this remains largely unknown. We previously showed that autotetraploid Arabidopsis arenosa evolved stable meiosis, likely through reduced crossover rates, and that associated with this there is strong evidence for selection in a subset of meiosis genes known to affect axis formation, synapsis, and crossover frequency. Here, we use genome-wide data to study the molecular evolution of 70 meiosis genes in a much wider sample of A. arenosa. We sample the polyploid lineage, a diploid lineage from the Carpathian Mountains, and a more distantly related diploid lineage from the adjacent, but biogeographically distinct Pannonian Basin. We find that not only did selection act on meiosis genes in the polyploid lineage but also independently on a smaller subset of meiosis genes in Pannonian diploids. Functionally related genes are targeted by selection in these distinct contexts, and in two cases, independent sweeps occurred in the same loci. The tetraploid lineage has sustained selection on more genes, has more amino acid changes in each, and these more often affect conserved or potentially functional sites. We hypothesize that Pannonian diploid and tetraploid A. arenosa experienced selection on structural proteins that mediate sister chromatid cohesion, the formation of meiotic chromosome axes, and synapsis, likely for different underlying reasons.

Salinity Is an Agent of Divergent Selection Driving Local Adaptation of Arabidopsis to Coastal Habitats.

Understanding the molecular mechanism of adaptive evolution in plants provides insights into the selective forces driving adaptation and the genetic basis of adaptive traits with agricultural value. The genomic resources available for Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) make it well suited to the rapid molecular dissection of adaptive processes. Although numerous potentially adaptive loci have been identified in Arabidopsis, the consequences of divergent selection and migration (both important aspects of the process of local adaptation) for Arabidopsis are not well understood. Here, we use a multiyear field-based reciprocal transplant experiment to detect local populations of Arabidopsis composed of multiple small stands of plants (demes) that are locally adapted to the coast and adjacent inland habitats in northeastern Spain. We identify fitness tradeoffs between plants from these different habitats when grown together in inland and coastal common gardens and also, under controlled conditions in soil excavated from coastal and inland sites. Plants from the coastal habitat also outperform those from inland when grown under high salinity, indicating local adaptation to soil salinity. Sodium can be toxic to plants, and we find its concentration to be elevated in soil and plants sampled at the coast. We conclude that the local adaptation that we observe between adjacent coastal and inland populations is caused by ongoing divergent selection driven by the differential salinity between coastal and inland soils.