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Data from: Dioecy and chromosomal sex determination are maintained through allopolyploid speciation in the plant genus Mercurialis

Toups, Melissa1; Vicoso, Beatriz2; Pannell, John3

Published Feb 13, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gf1vhhmsj

Data files

Feb 13, 2024 version files 10.06 GB

Abstract

Polyploidization may precipitate dramatic changes to the genome, including chromosome rearrangements, gene loss, and changes in gene expression. In dioecious plants, the sex-determining mechanism may also be disrupted by polyploidization, with the potential evolution of hermaphroditism. However, while dioecy appears to have persisted through a ploidy transition in some species, it is unknown whether the newly formed polyploid maintained its sex-determining system uninterrupted, or whether dioecy re-evolved after a period of hermaphroditism. Here, we develop a bioinformatic pipeline using RNA-sequencing data from natural populations to demonstrate that the allopolyploid plant Mercurialis canariensis directly inherited its sex-determining region from one of its diploid progenitor species, M. annua, and likely remained dioecious throughout the transition. Interestingly, the sex-determining region of M. canariensis is smaller than that of its diploid progenitor, suggesting that the non - recombining region of M. annua expanded subsequent to the polyploid origin of M. canariensis. Furthermore, we find some evidence for sexual subfunctionalization of homeologous pairs, suggesting that polyploids may use gene duplicates created by polyploidization to resolve sexual antagonism.