Frequent allopolyploidy with distant progenitors in the moss genera Physcomitrium and Entosthodon (Funariaceae) identified via subgenome phasing of targeted nuclear genes.

Allopolyploids represent a new frontier in species discovery among embryophytes. Within mosses, allopolyploid discovery is challenged by low morphological complexity. The rapid expansion of sequencing approaches in addition to computational developments to identifying genome merger and whole-genome duplication using variation among nuclear loci representing homeologs has allowed for increased allopolyploid discovery among mosses. Here, we test a novel approach to phasing homeologs within loci and phasing loci across subgenomes, or subgenome assignment, called Homologizer, in the family Funariaceae. We confirm the intergeneric hybrid nature of Entosthodon hungaricus, and the allopolyploid origin of Physcomitrium eurystomum and one population of Physcomitrium collenchymatum. We also reveal that hybridization gave rise to Physcomitrium immersum, as well as to yet unrecognized lineages sharing the phenotype of Physcomitrium pyriforme and Physcomitrium sphaericum. Our findings demonstrate the utility of our approach when working with polyploid genomes, and its value in identifying progenitor species using target capture data.

A target enrichment probe set for resolving the flagellate land plant tree of life.

PREMISE: New sequencing technologies facilitate the generation of large-scale molecular data sets for constructing the plant tree of life. We describe a new probe set for target enrichment sequencing to generate nuclear sequence data to build phylogenetic trees with any flagellate land plants, including hornworts, liverworts, mosses, lycophytes, ferns, and all gymnosperms. METHODS: We leveraged existing transcriptome and genome sequence data to design the GoFlag 451 probes, a set of 56,989 probes for target enrichment sequencing of 451 exons that are found in 248 single-copy or low-copy nuclear genes across flagellate plant lineages. RESULTS: Our results indicate that target enrichment using the GoFlag451 probe set can provide large nuclear data sets that can be used to resolve relationships among both distantly and closely related taxa across the flagellate land plants. We also describe the GoFlag 408 probes, an optimized probe set covering 408 of the 451 exons from the GoFlag 451 probe set that is commercialized by RAPiD Genomics. CONCLUSIONS: A target enrichment approach using the new probe set provides a relatively low-cost solution to obtain large-scale nuclear sequence data for inferring phylogenetic relationships across flagellate land plants.

1-year cost-utility analysis of prostate artery embolization (PAE) versus transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether prostate artery embolization (PAE) is a cost-effective alternative to transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) in the management of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) after 1-year follow-up. DESIGN SETTING AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A retrospective cost-utility analysis over a 12-month time period was conducted to compare the two interventions from a National Health Service perspective. Effectiveness was measured as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) derived from data collected during the observational UK Register of Prostate Embolisation (UK-ROPE) Study. Costs for both PAE and TURP were derived from University Hospital Southampton, a tertiary referral centre for BPH and the largest contributor to the UK-ROPE. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was derived from cost and QALY values associated with both interventions to assess the cost-effectiveness of PAE versus TURP. Further sensitivity analyses involved a decision tree model to account for the impact of patient-reported complications on the cost-effectiveness of the interventions. RESULTS: The mean patient age for TURP (n=31) and PAE (n=133) was 69 and 65.6 years, respectively. In comparison to TURP, PAE was cheaper due to shorter patient stays and the lack of necessity for an operating theatre. Analysis revealed an ICER of £64 798.10 saved per QALY lost when comparing PAE to TURP after 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that PAE is initially a cost-effective alternative to TURP for the management of BPH after 1-year follow-up. Due to a higher reintervention rate in the PAE group, this benefit may be lost in subsequent years. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02434575.

Inferring the impacts of evolutionary history and ecological constraints on spore size and shape in the ferns.

PREMISE: In the ferns, cell size has been explored with spores, which are largely uniform within species, produced in abundance, and durable. However, spore size and shape have been variously defined, and the relationship of these traits to genome size has not been well established. Here, we explore the variation in fern spore size and shape by ploidy level and genome size. METHODS: Measurements of spore dimensions for two study sets of ferns, Polystichum and Adiantum, both including diploid and tetraploid taxa, provided the basis for computing estimates of shape and size as defined here. These traits were compared between and within ploidy levels and regressed with genome size estimates from flow cytometry analysis. RESULTS: All size traits were strongly correlated with genome size; the shape trait was weakly correlated. Tetraploids were larger than diploids as expected; the spores of some closely related diploid species were also significantly different in size. DISCUSSION: Researchers with access to a student-grade compound microscope can develop a valid estimate of relative genome size for ferns. These estimates provide enough resolution to infer ploidy level and explore the relationship between genome size, habitat, and physiological constraints for species within ploidy level.

Draft genome of the aquatic moss Fontinalis antipyretica (Fontinalaceae, Bryophyta).

Mosses comprise one of three lineages forming a sister group to extant vascular plants. Having emerged from an early split in the diversification of embryophytes, mosses may offer complementary insights into the evolution of traits following the transition to, and colonization of, land. Here, we report the draft nuclear genome of Fontinalis antipyretica (Fontinalaceae, Hypnales), a charismatic aquatic moss that is widespread in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. We sequenced and de novo-assembled its genome using the 10X Genomics method. The genome comprises 385.2 Mbp, with a scaffold N50 of 45.8 Kbp. The assembly captured 87.2% of the 430 genes in the BUSCO Viridiplantae odb10 dataset. The newly generated F. antipyretica genome is the third moss genome, and the second seedless aquatic plant genome, to be sequenced and assembled to date.

The ecology, evolution, and biogeography of dioecy in the genus Solanum: with paradigms from the strong dioecy in Solanum polygamum, to the unsuspected and cryptic dioecy in Solanum conocarpum.

UNLABELLED: • PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Island plants are over-exploited and "under-explored." Understanding the reproductive biology of plants, especially rare species, is fundamental to clarifying their evolution, estimating potential for change, and for creating effective conservation plans. Clarification of sexual systems like dioecy, and unusual manifestations of it in specific studies within Solanum, helps elucidate evolutionary patterns and genetic and ecological control of sex expression.• METHODS: Studies of reproductive systems of two Caribbean endemics, S. polygamum and S. conocarpum, combined multifaceted analyses of field populations and of multiple generations of greenhouse plants.• KEY RESULTS: The dioecy in both species is, like that in other solanums, largely cryptic, although the gender of S. polygamum flowers is obvious. The rare S. conocarpum is recognized as dioecious; floral gender is not obvious. Variation in sex expression facilitated experiments and promoted hypotheses on control and significance of morphological features and sex expression.• CONCLUSIONS: Confirmed dioecy in at least 15 solanums is distributed across the genus, with perhaps 6 independent origins, and with crypticity in the form of morphologically hermaphroditic, but functionally unisexual, flowers characterizing all species. Dioecy is not more strongly associated with islands. Inaperturate pollen in pistillate flowers characterizes almost all, but not the two dioecious species studied herein. Dioecy in both species indicates leakiness (rare hermaphroditic flowers on male plants) that helps explain island colonization and radiation. Leakiness allowed confirmation-usually impossible for dioecious species-of self-compatibility for S. polygamum, and thus support for the hypothesis that dioecy evolved to promote outcrossing.