TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nowak, Michael D.
A1  - Russo, Giancarlo
A1  - Schlapbach, Ralph
A1  - Cuong Nguyen Huu, 
A1  - Lenhard, Michael
A1  - Conti, Elena
T1  - The draft genome of Primula veris yields insights into the molecular basis of heterostyly
JF  - Genome biology : biology for the post-genomic era
N2  - Background: The flowering plant Primula veris is a common spring blooming perennial that is widely cultivated throughout Europe. This species is an established model system in the study of the genetics, evolution, and ecology of heterostylous floral polymorphisms. Despite the long history of research focused on this and related species, the continued development of this system has been restricted due the absence of genomic and transcriptomic resources.
 Results: We present here a de novo draft genome assembly of P. veris covering 301.8 Mb, or approximately 63% of the estimated 479.22 Mb genome, with an N50 contig size of 9.5 Kb, an N50 scaffold size of 164 Kb, and containing an estimated 19,507 genes. The results of a RADseq bulk segregant analysis allow for the confident identification of four genome scaffolds that are linked to the P. veris S-locus. RNAseq data from both P. veris and the closely related species P. vulgaris allow for the characterization of 113 candidate heterostyly genes that show significant floral morph-specific differential expression. One candidate gene of particular interest is a duplicated GLOBOSA homolog that may be unique to Primula (PveGLO2), and is completely silenced in L-morph flowers.
 Conclusions: The P. veris genome represents the first genome assembled from a heterostylous species, and thus provides an immensely important resource for future studies focused on the evolution and genetic dissection of heterostyly. As the first genome assembled from the Primulaceae, the P. veris genome will also facilitate the expanded application of phylogenomic methods in this diverse family and the eudicots as a whole.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-014-0567-z
SN  - 1465-6906
SN  - 1474-760X
VL  - 16
PB  - BioMed Central
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Cuong Nguyen Huu, 
A1  - Kappel, Christian
A1  - Keller, Barbara
A1  - Sicard, Adrien
A1  - Takebayashi, Yumiko
A1  - Breuninger, Holger
A1  - Nowak, Michael D.
A1  - Bäurle, Isabel
A1  - Himmelbach, Axel
A1  - Burkart, Michael
A1  - Ebbing-Lohaus, Thomas
A1  - Sakakibara, Hitoshi
A1  - Altschmied, Lothar
A1  - Conti, Elena
A1  - Lenhard, Michael
T1  - Presence versus absence of CYP734A50 underlies the style-length dimorphism in primroses
JF  - eLife
N2  - Heterostyly is a wide-spread floral adaptation to promote outbreeding, yet its genetic basis and evolutionary origin remain poorly understood. In Primula (primroses), heterostyly is controlled by the S-locus supergene that determines the reciprocal arrangement of reproductive organs and incompatibility between the two morphs. However, the identities of the component genes remain unknown. Here, we identify the Primula CYP734A50 gene, encoding a putative brassinosteroid-degrading enzyme, as the G locus that determines the style-length dimorphism. CYP734A50 is only present on the short-styled S-morph haplotype, it is specifically expressed in S-morph styles, and its loss or inactivation leads to long styles. The gene arose by a duplication specific to the Primulaceae lineage and shows an accelerated rate of molecular evolution. Thus, our results provide a mechanistic explanation for the Primula style-length dimorphism and begin to shed light on the evolution of the S-locus as a prime model for a complex plant supergene.
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17956
SN  - 2050-084X
VL  - 5
PB  - eLife Sciences Publications
CY  - Cambridge
ER  -