Informace o projektu
Role of meiosis regulation in the stabilisation of whole genome duplication in Brassicaceae species

Project Summary: Whole-genome duplication (WGD) is one of the most profound genomic changes plants can experience. Although WGD initially causes severe meiotic instability, many plant lineages persist and diversify as stable polyploids. This project investigates one key mechanism underlying this success: the evolutionary reduction of chiasmata that promotes strict bivalent formation in autopolyploids. Using meiotic chromosome preparations, DAPI-based cytology, and immunolocalization of crossover proteins, the project compares meiotic behavior between diploid and naturally occurring tetraploid populations across several Brassicaceae species. By integrating cytological results with genomic data from collaborators, this study will determine whether polyploids exhibit convergent evolution in meiotic stabilization strategies. Polyploidy is a major driver of speciation in plants, yet most newly formed polyploids fail due to meiotic irregularities caused by multiple homologous chromosome copies. In Arabidopsis arenosa, successful polyploids evolved reduced crossover numbers, ensuring regular bivalent formation. Whether this adaptation represents a general evolutionary pattern across plant lineages remains unknown.This project addresses this unresolved question by studying meiosis in multiple Brassicaceae species that naturally occur in both diploid and tetraploid cytotypes. Understanding how polyploids achieve meiotic stability is central to evolutionary genomics, plant diversification, and applied breeding.
Aims and Hypotheses -To test whether Brassicaceae polyploids show convergent reduction in chiasmata number as an adaptation to whole-genome duplication.Tetraploids will exhibit fewer chiasmata than their diploid relatives. Reduced chiasmata will promote consistent bivalent formation and minimize multivalents. This pattern will be repeated across multiple species, indicating convergence.