Resolving phylogeny and polyploid parentage using genus-wide genome-wide sequence data from birch trees



Wang, Nian, Kelly, Laura J, McAllister, Hugh A, Zohren, Jasmin and Buggs, Richard JA
(2021) Resolving phylogeny and polyploid parentage using genus-wide genome-wide sequence data from birch trees. MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION, 160. 107126-.

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Abstract

Numerous plant genera have a history including frequent hybridisation and polyploidisation (allopolyploidisation), which means that their phylogeny is a network of reticulate evolution that cannot be accurately depicted as a bifurcating tree with a single tip per species. The genus Betula, which contains many ecologically important tree species, is a case in point. We generated genome-wide sequence reads for 27 diploid and 36 polyploid Betula species or subspecies using restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequences. These reads were assembled into contigs with a mean length of 675 bp. We reconstructed the evolutionary relationships among diploid Betula species using both supermatrix (concatenation) and species tree methods. We identified the closest diploid relatives of the polyploids according to the relative rates at which reads from polyploids mapped to contigs from different diploid species within a concatenated reference sequence. By mapping reads from allopolyploids to their different putative diploid relatives we assembled contigs from the putative sub-genomes of allopolyploid taxa. We used these to build new phylogenies that included allopolyploid sub-genomes as separate tips. This approach yielded a highly evidenced phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus Betula, including the complex reticulate origins of the majority of its polyploid taxa. Our phylogeny divides the genus into two well supported clades, which, interestingly, differ in their seed-wing morphology. We therefore propose to split Betula into two subgenera.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Polyploidy, Whole genome duplication, Hybridisation, Phylogenomics, Betula
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 10 Jun 2021 08:30
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 22:35
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107126
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107126
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3125831