Bursts of Rapid Diversification, Dispersals Out of Southern Africa, and Two Origins of Dioecy Punctuate the Evolution of Asparagus.

ABSTRACT: The genus Asparagus arose ∼9 to 15 million years ago (Ma), and transitions from hermaphroditism to dioecy (separate sexes) occurred ∼3 to 4 Ma. Roughly 27% of extant Asparagus species are dioecious, while the remaining are bisexual with monoclinous flowers. As such, Asparagus is an ideal model taxon for studying the early stages of dioecy and sex chromosome evolution in plants. Until now, however, understanding of diversification and shifts from hermaphroditism to dioecy in Asparagus has been hampered by the lack of robust species tree estimates for the genus. In this study, a genus-wide phylogenomic analysis including 1,726 nuclear loci and comprehensive species sampling supports two independent origins of dioecy in Asparagus-first in a widely distributed Eurasian clade and then in a clad

SUBMITTER: Bentz PC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11487909 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature