Lei Gao

Understanding the genetic changes underlying phenotypic variation in sheep (Ovis aries) may facilitate our efforts towards further improvement. Here, we report the deep resequencing of 248 sheep including the wild ancestor (O. orientalis), landraces, and improved breeds. We explored the sheep variome and selection signatures. We detected genomic regions harboring genes associated with distinct morphological and agronomic traits, which may be past and potential future targets of domestication, breeding, and selection. Furthermore, we found non-synonymous mutations in a set of plausible candidate genes and significant differences in their allele frequency distributions across breeds. We identified PDGFD as a likely causal gene for fat deposition in the tails of sheep through transcriptome, RT-PCR, qPCR, and Western blot analyses. Our results provide insights into the demographic history of sheep and a valuable genomic resource for future genetic studies and improved genome-assisted breeding of sheep and other domestic animals.

Fruit characteristics of sweet watermelon are largely the result of human selection. Here we report an improved watermelon reference genome and whole-genome resequencing of 414 accessions representing all extant species in the Citrullus genus. Population genomic analyses reveal the evolutionary history of Citrullus, suggesting independent evolutions in Citrullus amarus and the lineage containing Citrullus lanatus and Citrullus mucosospermus. Our findings indicate that different loci affecting watermelon fruit size have been under selection during speciation, domestication and improvement. A non-bitter allele, arising in the progenitor of sweet watermelon, is largely fixed in C. lanatus. Selection for flesh sweetness started in the progenitor of C. lanatus and continues through modern breeding on loci controlling raffinose catabolism and sugar transport. Fruit flesh coloration and sugar accumulation might have co-evolved through shared genetic components including a sugar transporter gene. This study provides valuable genomic resources and sheds light on watermelon speciation and breeding history.

We have determined the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of Cephalotaxus oliveri. The genome is 134,337 bp in length, encodes 113 genes, and lacks inverted repeat (IR) regions. Genome-wide mutational dynamics have been investigated through comparative analysis of the cp genomes of C. oliveri and C. wilsoniana. Gene order transformation analyses indicate that when distinct isomers are considered as alternative structures for the ancestral cp genome of cupressophyte and Pinaceae lineages, it is not possible to distinguish between hypotheses favoring retention of the same IR region in cupressophyte and Pinaceae cp genomes from a hypothesis proposing independent loss of IRA and IRB. Furthermore, in cupressophyte cp genomes, the highly reduced IRs are replaced by short repeats that have the potential to mediate homologous recombination, analogous to the situation in Pinaceae. The importance of repeats in the mutational dynamics of cupressophyte cp genomes is also illustrated by the accD reading frame, which has undergone extreme length expansion in cupressophytes. This has been caused by a large insertion comprising multiple repeat sequences. Overall, we find that the distribution of repeats, indels, and substitutions is significantly correlated in Cephalotaxus cp genomes, consistent with a hypothesis that repeats play a role in inducing substitutions and indels in conifer cp genomes.

Domestic sheep and their wild relatives harbor substantial genetic variants that can form the backbone of molecular breeding, but their genome landscapes remain understudied. Here, we present a comprehensive genome resource for wild ovine species, landraces and improved breeds of domestic sheep, comprising high-coverage (∼16.10×) whole genomes of 810 samples from 7 wild species and 158 diverse domestic populations. We detected, in total, ∼121.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, ∼61 million of which are novel. Some display significant (P < 0.001) differences in frequency between wild and domestic species, or are private to continent-wide or individual sheep populations. Retained or introgressed wild gene variants in domestic populations have contributed to local adaptation, such as the variation in the HBB associated with plateau adaptation. We identified novel and previously reported targets of selection on morphological and agronomic traits such as stature, horn, tail configuration, and wool fineness. We explored the genetic basis of wool fineness and unveiled a novel mutation (chr25: T7,068,586C) in the 3'-UTR of IRF2BP2 as plausible causal variant for fleece fiber diameter. We reconstructed prehistorical migrations from the Near Eastern domestication center to South-and-Southeast Asia and found two main waves of migrations across the Eurasian Steppe and the Iranian Plateau in the Early and Late Bronze Ages. Our findings refine our understanding of genome variation as shaped by continental migrations, introgression, adaptation, and selection of sheep.