The frequency and importance of polyploidy in tropical rainforest tree radiations.

ABSTRACT: The presence of more than two copies of the genome in an organism, termed 'polyploidy', is a crucial force in plant evolution, generating genetic, phenotypic and ecological diversity. [Correction added on 22 January 2026, after first online publication: the preceding sentence has been corrected.] The Amazonian tree flora is the most species-rich on Earth and largely arose as a result of rapid evolutionary radiations. While polyploidy is an important catalyst of rapid radiations, it remains poorly studied in tropical tree radiations. We examined ploidy variation across Inga (Fabaceae), a characteristic Amazonian tree radiation, using DNA-sequence data from 1305 loci for 189/282 Inga species. We then tested whether polyploid species experience more positive selection than diploids, particula

SUBMITTER: Schley RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12824605 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature