Authors

Xiong Huang, Chinese Academy of Forestry
Wenling Wang, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Ting Gong, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
David Wickell, Thompson Institute
Li Yaung Kuo, National Tsing Hua University
Xingtan Zhang, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Jialong Wen, Beijing Forestry University
Hoon Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Fachuang Lu, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Hansheng Zhao, International Center for Bamboo and Rattan
Song Chen, Northeast Forestry University
Hui Li, Chinese Academy of Forestry
Wenqi Wu, Beijing Forestry University
Changjiang Yu, Qingdao Agricultural University
Su Chen, Northeast Forestry University
Wei Fan, Chinese Academy of Forestry
Shuai Chen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Xiuqi Bao, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
Li Li, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
Dan Zhang, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
Longyu Jiang, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
Xiaojing Yan, Chinese Academy of Forestry
Zhenyang Liao, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Gongke Zhou, Qingdao Agricultural University
Yalong Guo, Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences
John Ralph, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ronald R. Sederoff, NC State University
Hairong Wei, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Ping Zhu, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
Fay Wei Li, Thompson Institute
Ray Ming, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-9-2022

Department

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Abstract

To date, little is known about the evolution of fern genomes, with only two small genomes published from the heterosporous Salviniales. Here we assembled the genome of Alsophila spinulosa, known as the flying spider-monkey tree fern, onto 69 pseudochromosomes. The remarkable preservation of synteny, despite resulting from an ancient whole-genome duplication over 100 million years ago, is unprecedented in plants and probably speaks to the uniqueness of tree ferns. Our detailed investigations into stem anatomy and lignin biosynthesis shed new light on the evolution of stem formation in tree ferns. We identified a phenolic compound, alsophilin, that is abundant in xylem, and we provided the molecular basis for its biosynthesis. Finally, analysis of demographic history revealed two genetic bottlenecks, resulting in rapid demographic declines of A. spinulosa. The A. spinulosa genome fills a crucial gap in the plant genomic landscape and helps elucidate many unique aspects of tree fern biology.

Publisher's Statement

© 2022, The Author(s). Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01146-6

Publication Title

Nature Plants

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF

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