LBBE researchers contribute to the sequencing of the Silene latifolia genome, a model species for the evolution of plant sex chromosomes..

A team led by Gabriel Marais (researcher at CIBIO Porto and the LBBE) has sequenced and assembled the genome of Silene latifolia, which is a model system for studying plant sex chromosomes. The team thus revealed the existence of a giant Y chromosome in this species. This chromosome, whose size is near 500 million nucleotides, was invaded by transposable elements and has undergone gene degeneration since the recombination arrest of the ancestral pair of autosomes. The authors were able to identify several candidate sex-determining genes in Silene latifolia.  Several LBBE researchers have contributed to this study (Eric Tannier,  Raquel Tavares, Adil El Filali, Bruno Spataro, Stéphane Delmotte, Gabriel Marais). This project is the fruit of an international collaboration, involving several countries : Portugal, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Chile,  United States of America, France.

For more information: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj7430