The asparagus genome sheds light on the origin and evolution of a young Y chromosome

Alex Harkess, Jinsong Zhou, Chunyan Xu, John E. Bowers, Ron Hulst, Saravanaraj Ayyampalayam, Francesco Mercati, Paolo Riccardi, Michael R. McKain, Atul Kakrana, Haibao Tang, Jeremy Ray, John Groenendijk, Siwaret Arikit, Sandra M. Mathioni, Mayumi Nakano, Hongyan Shan, Alexa Telgmann-Rauber, Akira Kanno, Zhen Yue, Haixin Chen, Wenqi Li, Yanling Chen, Xiangyang Xu, Yueping Zhang, Shaochun Luo, Helong Chen, Jianming Gao, Zichao Mao, J. Chris Pires, Meizhong Luo, Dave Kudrna, Rod A. Wing, Blake C. Meyers, Kexian Yi, Hongzhi Kong, Pierre Lavrijsen, Francesco Sunseri, Agostino Falavigna, Yin Ye (), James H. Leebens-Mack () and Guangyu Chen ()
Additional contact information
Alex Harkess: University of Georgia
Jinsong Zhou: Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Chunyan Xu: BGI-Shenzhen
John E. Bowers: University of Georgia
Ron Hulst: Limgroup B.V.
Saravanaraj Ayyampalayam: University of Georgia
Francesco Mercati: Università Mediterranea degli Studi di Reggio Calabria
Paolo Riccardi: Research Unit for Vegetable Crops
Michael R. McKain: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Atul Kakrana: University of Delaware
Haibao Tang: Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Jeremy Ray: University of Georgia
John Groenendijk: Green Acres Life Science
Siwaret Arikit: University of Delaware
Sandra M. Mathioni: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Mayumi Nakano: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Hongyan Shan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Alexa Telgmann-Rauber: University of Georgia
Akira Kanno: Tohoku University
Zhen Yue: BGI-Shenzhen
Haixin Chen: BGI-Shenzhen
Wenqi Li: BGI-Shenzhen
Yanling Chen: BGI-Shenzhen
Xiangyang Xu: BGI-Shenzhen
Yueping Zhang: Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Shaochun Luo: Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Helong Chen: Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences
Jianming Gao: Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences
Zichao Mao: Yunnan Agricultural University
J. Chris Pires: University of Missouri
Meizhong Luo: Huazhong Agricultural University
Dave Kudrna: School of Plant Sciences and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Rod A. Wing: School of Plant Sciences and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Blake C. Meyers: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Kexian Yi: Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences
Hongzhi Kong: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Pierre Lavrijsen: Limgroup B.V.
Francesco Sunseri: Università Mediterranea degli Studi di Reggio Calabria
Agostino Falavigna: Research Unit for Vegetable Crops
Yin Ye: BGI-Shenzhen
James H. Leebens-Mack: University of Georgia
Guangyu Chen: Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Sex chromosomes evolved from autosomes many times across the eukaryote phylogeny. Several models have been proposed to explain this transition, some involving male and female sterility mutations linked in a region of suppressed recombination between X and Y (or Z/W, U/V) chromosomes. Comparative and experimental analysis of a reference genome assembly for a double haploid YY male garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) individual implicates separate but linked genes as responsible for sex determination. Dioecy has evolved recently within Asparagus and sex chromosomes are cytogenetically identical with the Y, harboring a megabase segment that is missing from the X. We show that deletion of this entire region results in a male-to-female conversion, whereas loss of a single suppressor of female development drives male-to-hermaphrodite conversion. A single copy anther-specific gene with a male sterile Arabidopsis knockout phenotype is also in the Y-specific region, supporting a two-gene model for sex chromosome evolution.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01064-8

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