Unraveling the mesopolyploid history of Australian crucifers (Brassicaceae)
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| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | The lowest chromosome numbers known in Brassicaceae (n=4-6) can be found in endemic Australian cruciferous species closely related to the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. We aimed to reconstruct the modes of chromosome number reduction in the Australian taxa from a tentative Ancestral Crucifer Karyotype (ACK, n=8) by comparative chromosome painting (CCP). In three Australian cruciferous species, Stenopetalum nutans (2n=8), Arabidella eremigena (2n=10) and Ballantinia antipoda (2n=12), all 24 genomic blocks of the ACK were unexpectedly found in duplicates. These data suggest that all three species experienced a relatively recent whole-genome duplication followed by massive karyotype reshuffling and chromosome fusions. The unique associations of ancestral genomic blocks shared by the ACK and the Australian crucifers suggest that the reduced crucifer karyotypes (n=4-6) descended from the ACK (n=8) via a polyploid ancestor with yet unknown chromosome number. |
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