The Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences has made important progress in the evolution and adaptive evolution of the "Chinese Pepper" genome

The Laboratory of Tropical Spicy Beverage Germplasm Resources of the Institute of Aromatic Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences has made important progress
in the research of the evolution and adaptive evolution of the Chinese peppercorn genome.
On the basis of achieving high-quality splicing and chromosomal anchoring of the genomes of Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum, the research team revealed the genetic basis of the unique flower organ degradation, egonosynthesis and adaptive phenotypic innovation of peppercorns, indicating that the genomic evolution and phenotypic innovation of peppercorns are consistent
with the harsh ecological factors of the late Cenozoic era, especially the cold and/or arid climatic conditions 。 The research results provide important insights into the adaptive evolutionary mechanism behind the diversity evolution and phenotypic innovation of peppercorns, and have broad significance
for the improvement of plant conservation utilization and adaptive evolution theory under the extreme environmental changes of the new geological period.

 

Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum are Zanthoxylum spice crops of the Rutaceae family and are known as "Chinese Pepper"
for their widespread use in traditional Chinese medicine and the Chinese diet.
Peppercorns have high economic value and strong adaptability, with a planting area of more than 20 million mu, which is the largest woody spice crop in China and has important value
in serving the national rural revitalization strategy.
In addition, the unusually complex genome, degenerated reproductive strategies and unique adaptive phenotypes of Sichuan peppercorns also give it unique value
in the study of plant adaptive evolution.

 

Based on high-depth sequencing, Canu assembly, and the strategy of "de-redundancy while clustering", the research team assembled the genomes of Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum
, which currently have the best continuity and integrity 。 Genomic evolution analysis showed that the vigorous genome rearrangement and two whole genome reproduction of the peppercorn genome had the characteristics
of large genome (~4.
5 G), high repeat sequence ratio (>82%), high heterozygosity (>6%) and large number of chromosomes (2n=4×=132).
Combined with metabolome, genomic evolution and transcriptome analysis, the genetic basis of the unique flower organ degradation, eclipse and other egoprine synthesis and environmental adaptation phenotypic innovation of Sichuan pepper is revealed
.
These phenotypes differ significantly from
the phenotypic innovations of pollinator coevolution in the classical evolutionary theory of angiosperms (Darwin's "Nasty Mystery").
Based on the differences in adaptability of Peppercorns and Peppercorns, the subgenomic preference of gene expression and the accumulation of flavonoids, it is revealed that the genomic evolution and phenotypic innovation of Peppercorns are consistent with the harsh ecological factors of the late Cenozoic Era, especially the cold and/or arid climatic conditions, indicating that the adaptive evolution of Peppercorns is consistent with genomic evolution and environmental drive
.
The research results can provide data and theoretical reference for molecular breeding and plant evolution of peppercorns
.

 

The findings were published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal
as "The complex genome and adaptive evolution of polyploid Chinese pepper (Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum).
。 Hao Chaoyun, a researcher of our institute, Professor Jin Shuangxia of Huazhong Agricultural University, and Zhu Shu, dean of Jiangsu Jinjiaohong Spice Science and Technology Research Institute, are the co-corresponding authors of the paper, Hu Lisong and Fan Rui are associate researchers, and Xu Zhongping of Huazhong Agricultural University is the co-first author
.
The research was supported
by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Hainan Provincial Academician Innovation Platform Research Project, and the Jiangsu Jinjiaohong Spice Science and Technology Research Institute Gene Breeding Project.

 

Original link: https://onlinelibrary.
wiley.
com/doi/abs/10.
1111/pbi.
13926