| Summary: | Genome evolution: Complex interactions in the composites Two drivers of plant speciation – hybridization and polyploidization – may interact to cause significant genetic and genomic changes. The creation of new species and varieties of plant, both in nature and in artificial breeding, commonly employs the processes of hybridization (breeding two different species together) and polyploidization (multiplication of the entire genome). When the two processes occur together, an ‘allopolyploid’ is created. A team at Nanjing Agricultural University, led by Fadi Chen, explored the genomic changes associated with allopolyploidization in a hybrid of two species of composites (Asteraceae, the daisy family), chrysanthemum and tansy. Using a combination of modern genetic approaches, they found that differences in genetic makeup, gene activity, and molecular modification of the genome were associated with both hybridization and polyploidization and, potentially, with an interaction between the two.
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