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Macrocystis pyrifera (giant kelp), is a brown macroalga of great ecological importance as a primary producer and structure-forming foundational species that provides habitat for hundreds of species. It has many commercial uses (e.g. source of alginate, fertilizer, cosmetics, feedstock). One of the limitations to exploiting giant kelp's economic potential and assisting in giant kelp conservation efforts is a lack of genomic tools like a high quality, contiguous reference genome with accurate gene annotations. Reference genomes attempt to capture the complete genomic sequence of an individual or species, and importantly provide a universal structure for comparison across a multitude of genetic experiments, both within and between species. We assembled the giant kelp genome of a haploid female gametophyte de novo using PacBio reads, then ordered contigs into chromosome level scaffolds using Hi-C. We found the giant kelp genome to be 537 MB, with a total of 35 scaffolds and 188 contigs. The assembly N50 is 13,669,674 with GC content of 50.37%. We assessed the genome completeness using BUSCO, and found giant kelp contained 94% of the BUSCO genes from the stramenopile clade. Annotation of the giant kelp genome revealed 25,919 genes. Additionally, we present genetic variation data based on 48 diploid giant kelp sporophytes from three different Southern California populations that confirms the population structure found in other studies of these populations. This work resulted in a high-quality giant kelp genome that greatly increases the genetic knowledge of this ecologically and economically vital species.

A defining challenge of the 21st century is meeting the nutritional demands of the growing human population, under a scenario of limited land and water resources and under the specter of climate change. The Vavilov seed bank contains numerous landraces collected nearly a hundred years ago, and thus may contain 'genetic gems' with the potential to enhance modern breeding efforts. Here, we analyze 407 landraces, sampled from major historic centers of chickpea cultivation and secondary diversification. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) conducted on both phenotypic traits and bioclimatic variables at landraces sampling sites as extended phenotypes resulted in 84 GWAS hits associated to various regions. The novel haploblock-based test identified haploblocks enriched for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with phenotypes and bioclimatic variables. Subsequent bi-clustering of traits sharing enriched haploblocks underscored both non-random distribution of SNPs among several haploblocks and their association with multiple traits. We hypothesize that these clusters of pleiotropic SNPs represent co-adapted genetic complexes to a range of environmental conditions that chickpea experienced during domestication and subsequent geographic radiation. Linking genetic variation to phenotypic data and a wealth of historic information preserved in historic seed banks are the keys for genome-based and environment-informed breeding intensification.

Noncoding DNA sequences, which play various roles in gene expression and regulation, are under evolutionary pressure. Gene regulation requires specific protein-DNA binding events, and our previous studies showed that both DNA sequence and shape readout are employed by transcription factors (TFs) to achieve DNA binding specificity. By investigating the shape-disrupting properties of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in human regulatory regions, we established a link between disruptive local DNA shape changes and loss of specific TF binding. Furthermore, we described cases where disease-associated SNPs may alter TF binding through DNA shape changes. This link led us to hypothesize that local DNA shape within and around TF binding sites is under selection pressure. To verify this hypothesis, we analyzed SNP data derived from 216 natural strains of Drosophila melanogaster. Comparing SNPs located in functional and nonfunctional regions within experimentally validated cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) from D. melanogaster that are active in the blastoderm stage of development, we found that SNPs within functional regions tended to cause smaller DNA shape variations. Furthermore, SNPs with higher minor allele frequency were more likely to result in smaller DNA shape variations. The same analysis based on a large number of SNPs in putative CRMs of the D. melanogaster genome derived from DNase I accessibility data confirmed these observations. Taken together, our results indicate that common SNPs in functional regions tend to maintain DNA shape, whereas shape-disrupting SNPs are more likely to be eliminated through purifying selection.

Domesticated species are impacted in unintended ways during domestication and breeding. Changes in the nature and intensity of selection impart genetic drift, reduce diversity, and increase the frequency of deleterious alleles. Such outcomes constrain our ability to expand the cultivation of crops into environments that differ from those under which domestication occurred. We address this need in chickpea, an important pulse legume, by harnessing the diversity of wild crop relatives. We document an extreme domestication-related genetic bottleneck and decipher the genetic history of wild populations. We provide evidence of ancestral adaptations for seed coat color crypsis, estimate the impact of environment on genetic structure and trait values, and demonstrate variation between wild and cultivated accessions for agronomic properties. A resource of genotyped, association mapping progeny functionally links the wild and cultivated gene pools and is an essential resource chickpea for improvement, while our methods inform collection of other wild crop progenitor species.

The Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR), in St. Petersburg, Russia, houses a unique genebank, with historical collections of landraces. When they were collected, the geographical distribution and genetic diversity of most crops closely reflected their historical patterns of cultivation established over the preceding millennia. We employed a combination of genomics, computational biology and phenotyping to characterize VIR's 147 chickpea accessions from Turkey and Ethiopia, representing chickpea's center of origin and a major location of secondary diversity. Genotyping by sequencing identified 14,059 segregating polymorphisms and genome-wide association studies revealed 28 GWAS hits in potential candidate genes likely to affect traits of agricultural importance. The proportion of polymorphisms shared among accessions is a strong predictor of phenotypic resemblance, and of environmental similarity between historical sampling sites. We found that 20 out of 28 polymorphisms, associated with multiple traits, including days to maturity, plant phenology, and yield-related traits such as pod number, localized to chromosome 4. We hypothesize that selection and introgression via inadvertent hybridization between more and less advanced morphotypes might have resulted in agricultural improvement genes being aggregated to genomic 'agro islands', and in genotype-to-phenotype relationships resembling widespread pleiotropy.

High soil salinity negatively influences plant growth and yield. Some taxa have evolved mechanisms for avoiding or tolerating elevated soil salinity, which can be modulated by the environment experienced by parents or offspring. We tested the contribution of the parental and offspring environments on salinity adaptation and their potential underlying mechanisms. In a two-generation greenhouse experiment, we factorially manipulated salinity concentrations for genotypes of Medicago truncatula that were originally collected from natural populations that differed in soil salinity. To compare population level adaptation to soil salinity and to test the potential mechanisms involved we measured two aspects of plant performance, reproduction and vegetative biomass, and phenological and physiological traits associated with salinity avoidance and tolerance. Saline-origin populations had greater biomass and reproduction under saline conditions than non-saline populations, consistent with local adaptation to saline soils. Additionally, parental environmental exposure to salt increased this difference in performance. In terms of environmental effects on mechanisms of salinity adaptation, parental exposure to salt spurred phenological differences that facilitated salt avoidance, while offspring exposure to salt resulted in traits associated with greater salt tolerance. Non-saline origin populations expressed traits associated with greater growth in the absence of salt while, for saline adapted populations, the ability to maintain greater performance in saline environments was also associated with lower growth potential in the absence of salt. Plastic responses induced by parental and offspring environments in phenology, leaf traits, and gas exchange contribute to salinity adaptation in M. truncatula. The ability of plants to tolerate environmental stress, such as high soil salinity, is likely modulated by a combination of parental effects and within-generation phenotypic plasticity, which are likely to vary in populations from contrasting environments.

BackgroundAs our world becomes warmer, agriculture is increasingly impacted by rising soil salinity and understanding plant adaptation to salt stress can help enable effective crop breeding. Salt tolerance is a complex plant phenotype and we know little about the pathways utilized by naturally tolerant plants. Legumes are important species in agricultural and natural ecosystems, since they engage in symbiotic nitrogen-fixation, but are especially vulnerable to salinity stress.ResultsOur studies of the model legume Medicago truncatula in field and greenhouse settings demonstrate that Tunisian populations are locally adapted to saline soils at the metapopulation level and that saline origin genotypes are less impacted by salt than non-saline origin genotypes; these populations thus likely contain adaptively diverged alleles. Whole genome resequencing of 39 wild accessions reveals ongoing migration and candidate genomic regions that assort non-randomly with soil salinity. Consistent with natural selection acting at these sites, saline alleles are typically rare in the range-wide species' gene pool and are also typically derived relative to the sister species M. littoralis. Candidate regions for adaptation contain genes that regulate physiological acclimation to salt stress, such as abscisic acid and jasmonic acid signaling, including a novel salt-tolerance candidate orthologous to the uncharacterized gene AtCIPK21. Unexpectedly, these regions also contain biotic stress genes and flowering time pathway genes. We show that flowering time is differentiated between saline and non-saline populations and may allow salt stress escape.ConclusionsThis work nominates multiple potential pathways of adaptation to naturally stressful environments in a model legume. These candidates point to the importance of both tolerance and avoidance in natural legume populations. We have uncovered several promising targets that could be used to breed for enhanced salt tolerance in crop legumes to enhance food security in an era of increasing soil salinization.

Environmental factors during juvenile growth such as temperature and nutrition have major effects on adult morphology and life-history traits. In Drosophila melanogaster, ovary size, measured as ovariole number, and body size, measured as thorax length, are developmentally plastic traits with respect to larval nutrition. Herein we investigated the genetic basis for plasticity of ovariole number and body size, as well the genetic basis for their allometric relationship using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a natural population in Winters, California. We reared 196 RILs in four yeast concentrations and measured ovariole number and body size. The genetic correlation between ovariole number and thorax length was positive, but the strength of this correlation decreased with increasing yeast concentration. Genetic variation and genotype-by-environment (G x E) interactions were observed for both traits. We identified quantitative trait loci (QTL), epistatic, QTL-by-environment, and epistatic-by-environment interactions for both traits and their scaling relationships. The results are discussed in the context of multivariate trait evolution.

A large-effect QTL for divergence in sex-comb tooth number between Drosophila simulans and D. mauritiana was previously mapped to 73A-84AB. Here we identify genes that are likely contributors to this divergence. We first improved the mapping resolution in the 73A-84AB region using 12 introgression lines and 62 recombinant nearly isogenic lines. To further narrow the list of candidate genes, we assayed leg-specific expression and identified genes with transcript-level evolution consistent with a potential role in sex-comb divergence. Sex combs are formed on the prothoracic (front) legs, but not on the mesothoracic (middle) legs of Drosophila males. We extracted RNA from the prothoracic and mesothoracic pupal legs of two species to determine which of the genes expressed differently between leg types were also divergent for gene expression. Two good functional candidate genes, Scr and dsx, are located in one of our fine-scale QTL regions. In addition, three previously uncharacterized genes (CG15186, CG2016, and CG2791) emerged as new candidates. These genes are located in regions strongly associated with sex-comb tooth number differences and are expressed differently between leg tissues and between species. Further supporting the potential involvement of these genes in sex-comb divergence, we found a significant difference in sex-comb tooth number between co-isogenic D. melanogaster lines with and without P-element insertions at CG2791.

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) act as contact pheromones in Drosophila melanogaster and are an important component of several ecological traits. Segregating genetic variation in the expression of CHCs at the population level in D. melanogaster is likely to be important for mate choice and climatic adaptation; however, this variation has never been characterized. Using a panel of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a natural population, we found significant between-line variation for nearly all CHCs in both sexes. We identified 25 QTL in females and 15 QTL in males that pleiotropically influence CHC expression. There was no evidence of colocalization of QTL for homologous traits across the sexes, indicating that sexual dimorphism and low intersex genetic correlations between homologous CHCs are a consequence of largely independent genetic control. This is consistent with a pattern of divergent sexual and natural selection between the sexes.

We used quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping to evaluate the age specificity of naturally segregating alleles affecting life span. Estimates of age-specific mortality rates were obtained from observing 51,778 mated males and females from a panel of 144 recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Twenty-five QTL were found, having 80 significant effects on life span and weekly mortality rates. Generation of RILs from heterozygous parents enabled us to contrast effects of QTL alleles with the means of RIL populations. Most of the low-frequency alleles increased mortality, especially at younger ages. Two QTL had negatively correlated effects on mortality at different ages, while the remainder were positively correlated. Chromosomal positions of QTL were roughly concordant with estimates from other mapping populations. Our findings are broadly consistent with a mix of transient deleterious mutations and a few polymorphisms maintained by balancing selection, which together contribute to standing genetic variation in life span.

Variation in vein position and wing shape of Drosophila melanogaster depends on many genes. In the following, we report the results of a QTL analysis of wing shape in D. melanogaster. We identified QTL responsible for natural variation for wing shape and analyzed their interactions with developmental genetic signaling pathways important for vein positioning. The QTL analysis indicated that the total number of QTL segregating in this population is likely to be very large. The locations of putative QTL identified in this study were compared to those identified in previous studies and, while there is more correspondence across studies than expected by chance on the third chromosome, the studies appear to have identified different QTL. Using a complementation design, we tested for interactions among these QTL with the Hedgehog and Decapentaplegic signaling pathways, which are important for the development and position of vein pairs L3-L4 and L2-L5. Three QTL showed strong interactions with these two pathways, supporting the hypothesis that these QTL are involved in these pathways. Naturally segregating variation can therefore act through known signaling pathways to produce variation in vein position.

There have been several attempts to estimate the average dominance (ratio of heterozygous to homozygous effects) of spontaneous deleterious mutations in Drosophila melanogaster, but these have given inconsistent results. We investigated whether transposable element (TE) insertions have higher average dominance for egg-to-adult viability than do point mutations, a possibility suggested by the types of fitness-depressing effects that TEs are believed to have. If so, then variation in dominance estimates among strains and crosses would be expected as a consequence of variation in TE activity. As a first test, we estimated the average dominance of all mutations and of copia insertions in a set of lines that had accumulated spontaneous mutations for 33 generations. A traditional regression method gave a dominance estimate for all mutations of 0.17, whereas average dominance of copia insertions was 0.51; the difference between these two estimates approached significance (P = 0.08). As a second test, we reanalyzed Ohnishi's (1974) data on dominance of spontaneous and EMS-induced mutations. Because a considerable fraction of spontaneous mutations are caused by TE insertions, whereas EMS induces mainly point mutations, we predicted that average dominance would decline with increasing EMS concentration. This pattern was observed, but again fell short of formal significance (P = 0.07). Taken together, however, the two results give modest support for the hypothesis that TE insertions have greater average dominance in their viability effects than do point mutations, possibly as a result of deleterious effects of expression of TE-encoded genes.

To understand the mechanisms of morphological evolution and species divergence, it is essential to elucidate the genetic basis of variation in natural populations. Sexually dimorphic characters, which evolve rapidly both within and among species, present attractive models for addressing these questions. In this report, we map quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for variation in sexually dimorphic traits (abdominal pigmentation and the number of ventral abdominal bristles and sex comb teeth) in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. To capture the pattern of genetic variation present in the wild, a panel of recombinant inbred lines was created from two heterozygous flies taken directly from nature. High-resolution mapping was made possible by cytological markers at the average density of one per 2 cM. We have used a new Bayesian algorithm that allows QTL mapping based on all markers simultaneously. With this approach, we were able to detect small-effect QTL that were not evident in single-marker analyses. Our results show that at least for some sexually dimorphic traits, a small number of QTL account for the majority of genetic variation. The three strongest QTL account for >60% of variation in the number of ventral abdominal bristles. Strikingly, a single QTL accounts for almost 60% of variation in female abdominal pigmentation. This QTL maps to the chromosomal region that Robertson et al. have found to affect female abdominal pigmentation in other populations of D. melanogaster. Using quantitative complementation tests, we demonstrate that this QTL is allelic to the bric a brac gene, whose expression has previously been shown to correlate with interspecific differences in pigmentation. Multiple bab alleles that confer distinct phenotypes appear to segregate in natural populations at appreciable frequencies, suggesting that intraspecific and interspecific variation in abdominal pigmentation may share a similar genetic basis.

The rates of transcription and transposition of retrotransposons vary between lines of Drosophila melanogaster. We have studied the genetics of differences in copia retrotransposon activity by quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. Ninety-eight recombinant inbred lines were constructed from two parental lines exhibiting a 10-fold difference in copia transcript level and a 100-fold difference in transposition rate. The lines were scored for 126 molecular markers, copia transcript level, and rate of copia transposition. Transcript level correlated with copia copy number, and the difference in copia copy number Between parental lines accounted for 45.1% of copia transcript-level difference. Most of the remaining difference was accounted for by two transcript-level QTL mapping to cytological positions 27B-30D and 50F-57C on the second chromosome, which accounted for 11.5 and 30.4%, respectively. copia transposition rate was controlled By interacting QTL mapping to the region 27B-48D on the second and 61A-65A and 97D-100A on the third chromosome. The genes controlling copia transcript level are thus not necessarily those involved in controlling copia transposition rate. Segregation of modifying genes, rather than mutations, might explain the variability in copia retrotransposon activity between lines.

The magnitude of segregating variation for bristle number in Drosophila melanogaster exceeds that predicted from models of mutation-selection balance. To evaluate the hypothesis that genotype-environment interaction (GEI) maintains variation for bristle number in nature, we quantified the extent of GEI for abdominal and sternopleural bristles among 98 recombinant inbred lines, derived from two homozygous laboratory strains, in three temperature environments. There was considerable GEl for both bristle traits, which was mainly attributable to changes in rank order of line means. We conducted a genome-wide screen for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting bristle number in each sex and temperature environment, using a dense (3.2-cM) marker map of polymorphic insertion sites of roo transposable elements. Nine sternopleural and 11 abdominal bristle number QTLs were detected. Significant GEI was exhibited by 14 QTLs, but there was heterogeneity among QTLs in their sensitivity to thermal and sexual environments. To further evaluate the hypothesis that GEl maintains variation for bristle number, we require estimates of allelic effects across environments at genetic loci affecting the traits. This level of resolution may be achievable for Drosophila bristle number because candidate loci affecting bristle development often map to the same location as bristle number QTLs.

Single P-element mutagenesis was used to construct 1094 lines with P[lArB] inserts on all three major chromosomes in an isogenic background previously free of P elements. The effects of insertions on bristle number and on viability were assessed by comparison to 392 control lines. The variance and effects of P-element inserts on bristle number and viability were larger than those inferred from spontaneous mutations. The distributions of effects on bristle number were symmetrical and highly leptokurtic, such that a few inserts with large effects caused most of the increase in variance. The distribution of effects on viability were negatively skewed and platykurtic. On average, the effects of P-element insertions on bristle number were partly recessive and on viability were completely recessive. P-element inserts with large effects on bristle number tended to have reduced viability, but the correlation between the absolute value of the effects on bristle number and on viability was not strong. Fifty P-element inserts tagging quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with large effects on bristle number were mapped cytogenetically. Two P-element-induced scabrous alleles and five extramacrochaetae alleles were generated. Single P-element mutagenesis is a powerful method for identifying QTLs at the level of genetic locus.

The technique of divergent artificial selection for about 150 generations and arbitrary mating for 180 generations is used for determining the relationship between abdominal bristle number and sternopleural bristle number in Drosophila melanogaster. The bristle number for replicate selection lines is found to be larger than that of the lines maintained without artificial selection. The unselected lines exhibit an average fitness level which is higher than that of the selection lines.

An average divergence, following 125 generations of selection of 12.0 abdominal and 8.2 sternopleural bristles from the accumulation of new mutations influencing bristle number, resulted from replicated divergent artificial selection for abdominal and sternopleural responses from an inbred strain of Drosophila melanogaster. Extremely asymmetrical responses to selection were evident. Low abdominal and high sternopleural bristle numbers exhibited greater numbers.

A study investigates survival in a high-oxygen environment at two adult densities using a set of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) isolated from a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster as well as the genetic correlations and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for oxidative stress survival and early-age egg productions. The QTLs for oxidative stress survival are relatively abundant and found across the second and third chromosomes, suggesting that the genetic architecture of the trait is quite complex, but there is little evidence that average early-age production and oxidative stress survival are correlated.

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting responses and correlated responses to selection for abdominal and sternopleural bristle number have been mapped with high resolution to the Xand third chromosomes. Advanced intercross recombinant isogenic chromosomes were constructed from high and low selection lines in an unselected inbred background, and QTL were detected using composite interval mapping and high density transposable element marker maps. We mapped a total of 26 bristle number QTL with large effects, which were in or immediately adjacent to intervals previously inferred to contain bristle number QTL on these chromosomes. The QTL contributing to response to selection for high bristle number were not the same as those contributing to response to selection for low bristle number, suggesting that distributions of allelic effects per locus may be asymmetrical. Correlated responses were more often attributable to loose linkage than pleiotropy or close linkage. Bristle number QTL mapping to the same locations have been inferred in studies with different parental strains. Of the 26 QTL, 20 mapped to locations consistent with candidate genes affecting peripheral nervous system development and/or bristle number. This facilitates determining the molecular basis of quantitative variation and allele frequencies by associating molecular variation at the candidate genes with phenotypic variation in bristle number in samples of alleles from nature.

We have mapped quantitative trait loci (QTL) harboring naturally occurring allelic variation for Drosophila bristle number. Lines with high (H) and low (L) sternopleural bristle number were derived by artificial selection from a large base population. Isogenic H and L sublines were extracted from the selection lines, and populations of X and third chromosome H/L recombinant isogenic lines were constructed in the homozygous low line background. The polymorphic cytological locations of roo transposable elements provided a dense molecular marker map with an average intermarker distance of 4.5 cM. Two X chromosome and six chromosome 3 QTL affecting response to selection for sternopleural bristle number and three X chromosome and three chromosome 3 QTL affecting correlated response in abdominal bristle number were detected using a composite interval mapping method. The average effects of bristle number QTL were moderately large, and some had sex-specific effects. Epistasis between QTL affecting sternopleural bristle number was common, and interaction effects were large. Many of the intervals containing bristle number QTL coincided with those mapped in previous studies. However, resolution of bristle number QTL to the level of genetic loci is not trivial, because the genomic regions containing bristle number QTL often did not contain obvious candidate loci, and results of quantitative complementation tests to mutations at candidate loci affecting adult bristle number were ambiguous.