Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, 518120, China.
Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 29;15(1):9349. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53719-y.
Evolutionary dynamics of inversion and its impact on biochemical traits are a puzzling question. Here, we show abundance of inversions in three Curcuma species (turmeric, hidden ginger and Siam tulip). Genes within inversions display higher long terminal repeat content and lower expression level compared with genomic background, suggesting inversions in Curcuma experience relaxed genetic constraints. It is corroborated by depletion of selected SNPs and enrichment of deleterious mutations in inversions detected among 56 Siam tulip cultivars. Functional verification of tandem duplicated terpene synthase (TPS) genes reveals that genes within inversions become pseudogenes, while genes outside retain catalytic function. Our findings suggest that inversions act as a counteracting force against tandem duplication in balancing birth and death of TPS genes and modulating terpenoid contents in Curcuma. This study provides an empirical example that inversions are likely not adaptive but affect biochemical traits.
反转的进化动态及其对生化特征的影响是一个令人费解的问题。在这里，我们展示了三种姜黄属植物（姜黄、隐姜和暹罗郁金香）中反转的丰度。与基因组背景相比，反转内的基因具有更高的长末端重复序列含量和更低的表达水平，这表明姜黄属中的反转经历了放松的遗传限制。这一观点得到了在 56 个暹罗郁金香品种中检测到的缺失选择 SNP 和富集有害突变的支持。串联重复萜烯合酶（TPS）基因的功能验证表明，反转内的基因成为假基因，而反转外的基因保留催化功能。我们的研究结果表明，反转作为一种对抗力量，在平衡 TPS 基因的生死和调节姜黄属萜烯含量方面，与串联重复相互作用。本研究提供了一个经验性的例子，表明反转可能不是适应性的，而是影响生化特征。
