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Article|01 Nov 2021|OPEN
The Gillenia trifoliata genome reveals dynamics correlated with growth and reproduction in Rosaceae
Hilary S. Ireland1,2 , Chen Wu1,3 , Cecilia H. Deng1,3 , Elena Hilario1,3 , Ali Saei3,4 , Sylvia Erasmuson5 , Ross N. Crowhurst1,3 , Karine M. David2 , Robert J. Schaffer2,6 , David Chagné,3,4 ,
1The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 92196, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
2School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
3Genomics Aotearoa, ℅ Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
4The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 11600, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
5The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch Mail Centre, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
6The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, 55 Old Mill Road, RD 3, Motueka 7198, New Zealand
*Corresponding author. E-mail: David.Chagne@plantandfood.co.nz

Horticulture Research 8,
Article number: 233 (2021)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-021-00662-4
Views: 523

Received: 06 May 2021
Revised: 28 Jun 2021
Accepted: 30 Jul 2021
Published online: 01 Nov 2021

Abstract

The Rosaceae family has striking phenotypic diversity and high syntenic conservation. Gillenia trifoliata is sister species to the Maleae tribe of apple and ~1000 other species. Gillenia has many putative ancestral features, such as herb/sub-shrub habit, dry fruit-bearing and nine base chromosomes. This coalescence of ancestral characters in a phylogenetically important species, positions Gillenia as a ‘rosetta stone’ for translational science within Rosaceae. We present genomic and phenological resources to facilitate the use of Gillenia for this purpose. The Gillenia genome is the first fully annotated chromosome-level assembly with an ancestral genome complement (x = 9), and with it we developed an improved model of the Rosaceae ancestral genome. MADS and NAC gene family analyses revealed genome dynamics correlated with growth and reproduction and we demonstrate how Gillenia can be a negative control for studying fleshy fruit development in Rosaceae.