Project description:Cereal genomes have undergone repeated polyploidization and transposable element (TE) proliferation, collectively generating complex regulatory landscapes. The evolutionary trajectories and functional implications of these landscapes, however, remain largely unexplored. By employing chromatin-bound RNA sequencing across seven cereal species, we systematically mapped 45,952 regulatory element transcripts (RETs), including 32,867 distal RETs corresponding to enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). Our analysis reveals that 56% of lineage-specific eRNAs originate from TE expansions, suggesting TEs as significant reservoirs of species-specific regulatory innovation in cereals. Notably, we uncovered a remarkable similarity in defense-related function, root-specific expression, and TE-derived origin of eRNAs across ancient and recent evolutionary layers of Triticeae, suggesting recurrent recruitment of TE-derived root-associated regulatory elements during Triticeae evolution. Furthermore, we found that young eRNA pairs in hexaploid wheat with high sequence similarity, many originating from RLG_famc8.3 and DTC_famc4.3, exhibit pronounced root specificity and coordinated expression, suggesting a targeted amplification and refinement of the successful ancestral regulatory strategy established after Triticeae divergence. To facilitate community access, we developed Cereal-eRNAdb (http://bioinfo.cemps.ac.cn/Cereal-eRNAdb/), a comprehensive database integrating 69,426 eRNAs with functional annotations across 296 samples. Our work indicates that TE-mediated innovation of root-specific eRNAs as a candidate mechanism that may contribute to Triticeae adaptation and provides a foundational resource for exploiting regulatory variation in cereal crop breeding.
Project description:Cereal genomes have undergone repeated polyploidization and transposable element (TE) proliferation, collectively generating complex regulatory landscapes. The evolutionary trajectories and functional implications of these landscapes, however, remain largely unexplored. By employing chromatin-bound RNA sequencing across seven cereal species, we systematically mapped 45,952 regulatory element transcripts (RETs), including 32,867 distal RETs corresponding to enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). Our analysis reveals that 56% of lineage-specific eRNAs originate from TE expansions, suggesting TEs as significant reservoirs of species-specific regulatory innovation in cereals. Notably, we uncovered a remarkable similarity in defense-related function, root-specific expression, and TE-derived origin of eRNAs across ancient and recent evolutionary layers of Triticeae, suggesting recurrent recruitment of TE-derived root-associated regulatory elements during Triticeae evolution. Furthermore, we found that young eRNA pairs in hexaploid wheat with high sequence similarity, many originating from RLG_famc8.3 and DTC_famc4.3, exhibit pronounced root specificity and coordinated expression, suggesting a targeted amplification and refinement of the successful ancestral regulatory strategy established after Triticeae divergence. To facilitate community access, we developed Cereal-eRNAdb (http://bioinfo.cemps.ac.cn/Cereal-eRNAdb/), a comprehensive database integrating 69,426 eRNAs with functional annotations across 296 samples. Our work indicates that TE-mediated innovation of root-specific eRNAs as a candidate mechanism that may contribute to Triticeae adaptation and provides a foundational resource for exploiting regulatory variation in cereal crop breeding.
Project description:Cereal genomes have undergone repeated polyploidization and transposable element (TE) proliferation, collectively generating complex regulatory landscapes. The evolutionary trajectories and functional implications of these landscapes, however, remain largely unexplored. By employing chromatin-bound RNA sequencing across seven cereal species, we systematically mapped 45,952 regulatory element transcripts (RETs), including 32,867 distal RETs corresponding to enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). Our analysis reveals that 56% of lineage-specific eRNAs originate from TE expansions, suggesting TEs as significant reservoirs of species-specific regulatory innovation in cereals. Notably, we uncovered a remarkable similarity in defense-related function, root-specific expression, and TE-derived origin of eRNAs across ancient and recent evolutionary layers of Triticeae, suggesting recurrent recruitment of TE-derived root-associated regulatory elements during Triticeae evolution. Furthermore, we found that young eRNA pairs in hexaploid wheat with high sequence similarity, many originating from RLG_famc8.3 and DTC_famc4.3, exhibit pronounced root specificity and coordinated expression, suggesting a targeted amplification and refinement of the successful ancestral regulatory strategy established after Triticeae divergence. To facilitate community access, we developed Cereal-eRNAdb (http://bioinfo.cemps.ac.cn/Cereal-eRNAdb/), a comprehensive database integrating 69,426 eRNAs with functional annotations across 296 samples. Our work indicates that TE-mediated innovation of root-specific eRNAs as a candidate mechanism that may contribute to Triticeae adaptation and provides a foundational resource for exploiting regulatory variation in cereal crop breeding.
Project description:Cereal genomes have undergone repeated polyploidization and transposable element (TE) proliferation, collectively generating complex regulatory landscapes. The evolutionary trajectories and functional implications of these landscapes, however, remain largely unexplored. By employing chromatin-bound RNA sequencing across seven cereal species, we systematically mapped 45,952 regulatory element transcripts (RETs), including 32,867 distal RETs corresponding to enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). Our analysis reveals that 56% of lineage-specific eRNAs originate from TE expansions, suggesting TEs as significant reservoirs of species-specific regulatory innovation in cereals. Notably, we uncovered a remarkable similarity in defense-related function, root-specific expression, and TE-derived origin of eRNAs across ancient and recent evolutionary layers of Triticeae, suggesting recurrent recruitment of TE-derived root-associated regulatory elements during Triticeae evolution. Furthermore, we found that young eRNA pairs in hexaploid wheat with high sequence similarity, many originating from RLG_famc8.3 and DTC_famc4.3, exhibit pronounced root specificity and coordinated expression, suggesting a targeted amplification and refinement of the successful ancestral regulatory strategy established after Triticeae divergence. To facilitate community access, we developed Cereal-eRNAdb (http://bioinfo.cemps.ac.cn/Cereal-eRNAdb/), a comprehensive database integrating 69,426 eRNAs with functional annotations across 296 samples. Our work indicates that TE-mediated innovation of root-specific eRNAs as a candidate mechanism that may contribute to Triticeae adaptation and provides a foundational resource for exploiting regulatory variation in cereal crop breeding.
Project description:The domestication and transmission of cereals is one of the most fundamental components of early farming, but direct evidence of their use in early culinary practices and economies has remained frustratingly elusive. Using analysis of a well-preserved Early Bronze Age wooden container from Switzerland, we propose novel criterial for the identification of cereal residues. Using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we identified compounds typically associated with plant products, including a series of phenolic lipids (alkylresorcinols) found only at appreciable concentration in wheat and rye bran. The value of these lipids as cereal grain biomarkers were independently corroborated by the presence of macrobotanical remains embedded in the deposit, and wheat and rye endosperm peptides extracted from residue. These findings demonstrate the utility of a lipid-based biomarker for wheat and rye bran and offer a methodological template for future investigations of wider range of archaeological contexts. Alkylresorcinols provide a new tool for residue analysis which can help explore spread and exploitation of cereal grains, a economically fundamental component the advent and spread of farming.