Unravelling genome dynamics in Arabidopsis synthetic auto and allopolyploid species

Polyploidization is a major genome modification that results in plant species with multiple chromosome sets. Parental genome adjustment to co-habit a new nuclear environment results in additional innovation outcomes. We intended to assess genomic changes in polyploid model species with small genomes using inter retrotransposons amplified polymorphism (IRAP) and retrotransposon microsatellite amplified polymorphism (REMAP). Comparative analysis among diploid and autotetraploid A. thaliana and A. suecica lines with their parental lines revealed a marginal fraction of novel bands in both polyploids, and a vast loss of parental bands in allopolyploids. Sequence analysis of some remodelled bands shows that A. suecica parental band losses resulted mainly from sequence changes restricted to primer domains. Moreover, in A. suecica, both parental genomes presented rearrangement frequencies proportional to their sizes. Overall rates of genomic remodelling events detected in A. suecica were similar to those observed in species with a large genome supporting the role of retrotransposons and microsatellite sequences in the evolution of most allopolyploidsAcknowledgements: M. Bento was funded by a FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal) postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/80550/2011), Diana Tomás was funded by a FCT doctoral scholarship (SFRH/BD/93156/2013), Manuela Silva by the FCT Investigator Programme (IF/00834/2014), and the research work was financed by FCT LEAF Unit (UID/AGR/04129/2013)