iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michelle Stitzer @mcstitzer.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Was so great to have the assembly of a member of sister tribe Paspaleae to use as an outgroup. Thanks!

Michelle Stitzer @mcstitzer.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

A monumental effort -- huge thanks to everybody involved! And see what individual plants and their genomes look like here: mcstitzer.github.io/panand_assemblies

$A screenshot of the linked website, with nine Andropogoneae species (Andropogon chinensis, Andropogon gerardi, Andropogon burmanicus, Anatherum virginicum, Bothriochloa laguroides, Chrysopogon serrulatus, Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon refractus, Elionurus tripsacoides, Hemarthria compressa, Heteropogon contortus, and Ischaemum rugosum).$

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Michelle Stitzer @mcstitzer.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

We're not entirely sure why Andropogoneae resist the commonly observed patterns that follow polyploidy, but check out the preprint for our thoughts!

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Michelle Stitzer @mcstitzer.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Instead, we see a surprising lack of genome evolution in Andropogoneae polyploids: they retain almost all chromosomes, keep most genes, and their TEs only sometimes expand.

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Michelle Stitzer @mcstitzer.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

We uncovered 14 independent origins of polyploidy in these grasses, and expected to see patterns similar to those observed in maize: a reduction in chromosome number, the loss of duplicate genes, and bursts of transposable element activity.

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Michelle Stitzer @mcstitzer.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

New preprint featuring my favorite maize-relatives, the Andropogoneae! We sequenced the genomes of 27 species, including lemongrass, kangaroo grass, little and big bluestem, and more -- key species that shape grasslands and prairies worldwide. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

On top, five Andropogoneae grass species, from left to right Zea mays subsp. mays, Hemarthria uncinata, Miscanthus sinensis, Sorghum bicolor, Andropogon gerardi. On bottom, a map of the world, with collection sites of Andropogoneae grasses in points. A green background shows the distribution of Andropogoneae grasses throughout tropical and temperate latitudes

On left, a phylogeny of Andropogoneae species, with 14 independent polyploidy origins noted. On right, genome size and repeat content of each assembly. Across all assemblies, average assembly size is 1.9 Gb, and average repeat size is 1.5 Gb.

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