Abstract
BackgroundAgarwood, generated from the Aquilaria sinensis, has high economic and medicinal value. Although its genome has been sequenced, the ploidy of A. sinensis paleopolyploid remains unclear. Moreover, the expression changes of genes associated with agarwood formation were not analyzed either.ResultsIn the present work, we reanalyzed the genome of A. sinensis and found that it experienced a recent tetraploidization event ~ 63–71 million years ago (Mya). The results also demonstrated that the A. sinensis genome had suffered extensive gene deletion or relocation after the tetraploidization event, and exhibited accelerated evolutionary rates. At the same time, an alignment of homologous genes related to different events of polyploidization and speciation were generated as well, which provides an important comparative genomics resource for Thymelaeaceae and related families. Interestingly, the expression changes of genes related to sesquiterpene synthesis in wounded stems of A. sinensis were also observed. Further analysis demonstrated that polyploidization promotes the functional differentiation of the key genes in the sesquiterpene synthesis pathway.ConclusionsBy reanalyzing its genome, we found that the tetraploidization event shaped the A. sinensis genome and contributed to the ability of sesquiterpenes synthesis. We hope that these results will facilitate our understanding of the evolution of A. sinensis and the function of genes involved in agarwood formation.
Highlights
Agarwood, generated from the Aquilaria sinensis, has high economic and medicinal value
To identify paralogous genes in colinearity within the A. sinensis genome, we found 1,120, 155, 52, and 13 syntenic blocks containing at least 4, 10, 20, and 50 colinear gene pairs
Sesquiterpenoid Biosynthesis Related Genes In order to explore the copy status of genes related to sesquiterpene synthesis in A. sinensis and reference genomes, we used KAAS to annotate genes in the three genomes
Summary
Agarwood, generated from the Aquilaria sinensis, has high economic and medicinal value. Its genome has been sequenced, the ploidy of A. sinensis paleopolyploid remains unclear. Aquilaria sinensis (2n = 16) is the species of the genus Aquilaria of Thymelaeaceae. It grows mainly in tropical climates and is an economically important medical plant. Once wounded or infected by fungi, A. sinensis can produce a precious natural flavor product called agarwood[1], which is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, handicrafts and religious ceremonies worldwide[1,2,3,4]. The genome of A. sinensis has been sequenced by two independent groups[11, 12].
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