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Recombination: an underappreciated factor in the evolution of plant genomes

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 8, pages 77–84 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Our knowledge of recombination rates and patterns in plants is far from being comprehensive. However, compelling evidence indicates a central role for recombination, through its influences on mutation and selection, in the evolution of plant genomes. Furthermore, recombination seems to be generally higher and more variable in plants than in animals, which could be one of the primary reasons for differences in genome lability between these two kingdoms. Much additional study of recombination in plants is needed to investigate these ideas further.

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Figure 1: Types of mutation caused by homologous crossing over between repeated sequences.
Figure 2: The correlation of genomic features with recombination rates.

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Acknowledgements

The work on recombination and genome evolution in the Gaut, Anderson and Dvorak laboratories are funded by the US National Science Foundation. S.I.W. is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Canadian National Science and Engineering Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, USA

    Brandon S. Gaut

  2. Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Stephen I. Wright

  3. Department of Statistics and Genome, University of Evry Val d'Essonne, Evry, 91034, France

    Carène Rizzon

  4. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA

    Jan Dvorak

  5. Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

    Lorinda K. Anderson

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  1. Brandon S. Gaut
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  2. Stephen I. Wright
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Correspondence to Brandon S. Gaut.

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Glossary

Fluorescence in situ hybridization

A technique that is used to label specific sequences on chromosomes with fluorescent molecules.

Heterochromatic knobs

Cytologically visible regions of highly condensed chromatin that are distinct from pericentromeric regions.

Microsatellite instability

A change in the number of repeats of microsatellites.

Paracentric inversion

A structural chromosome alteration that results from breakage, inversion and reinsertion of a fragment of a chromosomal arm.

Pericentric inversion

A structural alteration to a chromosome that results from breakage, inversion and reinsertion of a fragment that spans the centromere.

Polyploid

Having three or more sets of homologous chromosomes (for example, tetraploid organisms have four sets of chromosomes).

Synapsis

Formation of a synaptonemal complex between homologous chromosomes during prophase I of meiosis. Pairing is a more general term that refers to homologous associations in somatic as well as meiotic nuclei.

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Gaut, B., Wright, S., Rizzon, C. et al. Recombination: an underappreciated factor in the evolution of plant genomes. Nat Rev Genet 8, 77–84 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1970

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