Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences Reveals Polyploidization Mechanisms Behind Hexaploid Kiwifruit's Environmental Adaptation
Published:11 Jan.2024 Source:BioArt Plant
A research team led by Dr. Yongbo Liu from the Institute of Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences recently published a paper in The Plant Journal, reporting the first assembly of the genome of wild homologous hexaploid kiwifruit.
The study revealed that the hexaploid Actinidia deliciosa had undergone four whole genome duplication events, most recently around 3.6 million years ago, which formed the wild hexaploid kiwifruit. Some gene families involved in adapting to environmental changes, such as cold-resistance genes, were found to have expanded. This is fundamental to the formation of polyploid kiwifruit species and the adaptation of polyploid plants to global climate change.
The study successfully parsed the mechanisms through which plants evolve into polyploids via multiple polyploidization events, as well as the molecular mechanisms behind polyploids' adaptation to climate change. This sheds light on the molecular basis of how plants respond to climate change, providing theoretical evidence for coping with climate change and protecting wild germplasm resources. It also opens up new research paradigms for ecological evolutionary genomics. As kiwifruit is an important wild genetic resource centered in China, this research is of great significance for protecting the diversity of wild kiwi resources.