Title :

Dioecy is associated with high genetic diversity and adaptation rates in the plant genus Silene

Author(s) :

Muyle, Aline [Auteur]
University of California [Irvine] [UC Irvine]
Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558 [LBBE]
Martin, Hélène [Auteur]
Évolution, Écologie et Paléontologie (Evo-Eco-Paleo) - UMR 8198 [Evo-Eco-Paléo (EEP)]
Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes [IBIS]
Zemp, Niklaus [Auteur]
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] [ETH Zürich]
Mollion, Maeva [Auteur]
Aarhus University [Aarhus]
Gallina, Sophie [Auteur]
Évolution, Écologie et Paléontologie (Evo-Eco-Paleo) - UMR 8198 [Evo-Eco-Paléo (EEP)]
Tavares, Raquel [Auteur]
Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558 [LBBE]
Silva, Alexandre [Auteur]
Bataillon, Thomas [Auteur]
Aarhus University [Aarhus]
Widmer, Alex [Auteur]
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] [ETH Zürich]
Glémin, Sylvain [Auteur]
Uppsala University
Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution [Rennes] [ECOBIO]
Touzet, Pascal [Auteur]
Évolution, Écologie et Paléontologie (Evo-Eco-Paleo) - UMR 8198 [Evo-Eco-Paléo (EEP)]
Marais, Gabriel A. B. [Auteur]
Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558 [LBBE]

Journal title :

Molecular Biology and Evolution

Pages :

805-818

Publisher :

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Publication date :

2021-03-09

ISSN :

0737-4038

English keyword(s) :

Allee effect
RNA-seq
angiosperms
population genetics
selection efficacy
sexual systems

HAL domain(s) :

Sciences de l'environnement/Biodiversité et Ecologie
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]/Génétique/Génétique des plantes
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]/Génétique/Génétique des populations [q-bio.PE]

English abstract : [en]

About 15,000 angiosperm species (∼6%) have separate sexes, a phenomenon known as dioecy. Why dioecious taxa are so rare is still an open question. Early work reported lower species richness in dioecious compared to ...
Show more >About 15,000 angiosperm species (∼6%) have separate sexes, a phenomenon known as dioecy. Why dioecious taxa are so rare is still an open question. Early work reported lower species richness in dioecious compared to non-dioecious sister clades, raising the hypothesis that dioecy may be an evolutionary dead-end. This hypothesis has been recently challenged by macro-evolutionary analyses that detected no or even positive effect of dioecy on diversification. However, the possible genetic consequences of dioecy at the population level, which could drive the long-term fate of dioecious lineages, have not been tested so far. Here, we used a population genomics approach in the Silene genus to look for possible effects of dioecy, especially for potential evidence of evolutionary handicaps of dioecy underlying the dead-end hypothesis. We collected individual-based RNA-seq data from several populations in 13 closely related species with different sexual systems: seven dioecious, three hermaphroditic and three gynodioecious species. We show that dioecy is associated with increased genetic diversity, as well as higher selection efficacy both against deleterious mutations and for beneficial mutations. The results hold after controlling for phylogenetic inertia, differences in species census population sizes and geographic ranges. We conclude that dioecious Silene species neither show signs of increased mutational load nor genetic evidence for extinction risk. We discuss these observations in the light of the possible demographic differences between dioecious and self-compatible hermaphroditic species and how this could be related to alternatives to the dead-end hypothesis to explain the rarity of dioecy.Show less >

Language :

Anglais

Peer reviewed article :

Oui

Audience :

Internationale

Popular science :

Non

ANR Project :

Les transitions de systèmes de reproduction chez les angiosperms et leurs conséquences génomiques

Collections :

• Évolution, Écologie et Paléontologie (Evo Eco Paleo) - UMR 8198

Source :

Harvested from HAL