Patterns of Genome-Wide Nucleotide Diversity in the Gynodioecious Plant Thymus vulgaris Are Compatible with Recent Sweeps of Cytoplasmic Genes.

ABSTRACT: Gynodioecy is a sexual dimorphism where females coexist with hermaphrodite individuals. In most cases, this dimorphism involves the interaction of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes and nuclear restorer genes. Two scenarios can account for how these interactions maintain gynodioecy. Either CMS genes recurrently enter populations at low frequency via mutation or migration and go to fixation unimpeded (successive sweeps), or CMS genes maintain polymorphism over evolutionary time through interactions with a nuclear restorer allele (balanced polymorphism). To distinguish between these scenarios, we used transcriptome sequencing in gynodioecious Thymus vulgaris and surveyed genome-wide diversity in 18 naturally occurring individuals sampled from populations at a local geographic scale. We c

SUBMITTER: Mollion M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5815141 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature