A Scientific Article Published by Prof. Zhang Mingfang and his collaborator in Current Volume of Nature Genetics

Editor:  Date:2016-09-13  [close]

    The current volume of Nature Genetics recently published a scientific article entitled The genome sequence of allopolyploid Brassica juncea and analysis of differential homoeolog gene expression influencing selection by Prof. Zhang Mingfang from Institute of Vegetable, College of Agriculture & Biotechnology and his collaborators.

    The Brassica genus contains a diverse range of oilseed and vegetable crops important for human nutrition. B. juncea was formed by hybridization between the diploid ancestors of B. rapa and B. nigra, followed by spontaneous chromosome doubling. We have assembled an allopolyploid B. juncea genome by shotgun and single molecule reads integrated to genomic and genetic maps. We suggested that A-subgenomes of B. juncea are of monophyletic origin, and have evolved into vegetable- and oil-use sub-varieties. Homoeolog expression dominance occurs between subgenomes of allopolyploid B. juncea, in which transcriptionally dominant genes display more significant selection potential than neutral genes. We found that homoeolog expression dominance in B. juncea has facilitated selection of glucosinolate and lipid metabolism genes in vegetable- and oil-use sub-varieties.

    Nature Genetics is the world leading journal in the field of genetics. The genome and evolution of allopolyploid Brassica juncea will definitely promote the genome breeding of this species, and the mechanism on the homoeolog expression dominance relationships among Brassicaceae genomes have contributed to selection response, predicting the directional effects of selection in a polyploid crop genome.

    Online link: http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3657.html