Universität zu Köln

Stelzer, C. P., Blommaert, J., Waldvogel, A. M., Pichler, M., Hecox-Lea, B. and Welch, D. B. Mark (2021). Comparative analysis reveals within-population genome size variation in a rotifer is driven by large genomic elements with highly abundant satellite DNA repeat elements. BMC Biol., 19 (1). LONDON: BMC. ISSN 1741-7007

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Abstract

Background Eukaryotic genomes are known to display an enormous variation in size, but the evolutionary causes of this phenomenon are still poorly understood. To obtain mechanistic insights into such variation, previous studies have often employed comparative genomics approaches involving closely related species or geographically isolated populations within a species. Genome comparisons among individuals of the same population remained so far understudied-despite their great potential in providing a microevolutionary perspective to genome size evolution. The rotifer Brachionus asplanchnoidis represents one of the most extreme cases of within-population genome size variation among eukaryotes, displaying almost twofold variation within a geographic population. Results Here, we used a whole-genome sequencing approach to identify the underlying DNA sequence differences by assembling a high-quality reference genome draft for one individual of the population and aligning short reads of 15 individuals from the same geographic population including the reference individual. We identified several large, contiguous copy number variable regions (CNVs), up to megabases in size, which exhibited striking coverage differences among individuals, and whose coverage overall scaled with genome size. CNVs were of remarkably low complexity, being mainly composed of tandemly repeated satellite DNA with only a few interspersed genes or other sequences, and were characterized by a significantly elevated GC-content. CNV patterns in offspring of two parents with divergent genome size and CNV patterns in several individuals from an inbred line differing in genome size demonstrated inheritance and accumulation of CNVs across generations. Conclusions By identifying the exact genomic elements that cause within-population genome size variation, our study paves the way for studying genome size evolution in contemporary populations rather than inferring patterns and processes a posteriori from species comparisons.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Stelzer, C. P. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Blommaert, J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Waldvogel, A. M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Pichler, M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Hecox-Lea, B. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Welch, D. B. Mark UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-586636
DOI:	10.1186/s12915-021-01134-w
Journal or Publication Title:	BMC Biol.
Volume:	19
Number:	1
Date:	2021
Publisher:	BMC
Place of Publication:	LONDON
ISSN:	1741-7007
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language READ ALIGNMENT; ANNOTATION; CHROMOSOMES; EVOLUTION Multiple languages Biology Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/58663