Transcriptome sequencing reveals genome-wide variation in molecular evolutionary rate among ferns.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Transcriptomics in non-model plant systems has recently reached a point where the examination of nuclear genome-wide patterns in understudied groups is an achievable reality. This progress is especially notable in evolutionary studies of ferns, for which molecular resources to date have been derived primarily from the plastid genome. Here, we utilize transcriptome data in the first genome-wide comparative study of molecular evolutionary rate in ferns. We focus on the ecologically diverse family Pteridaceae, which comprises about 10 % of fern diversity and includes the enigmatic vittarioid ferns-an epiphytic, tropical lineage known for dramatically reduced morphologies and radically elongated phylogenetic branch lengths. Using expressed sequence data for 2091 loci, we per

SUBMITTER: Grusz AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5006594 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature