Comparative transcriptomics sheds light on differential adaptation and species diversification between two Melastoma species and their F1 hybrid

Variation in gene expression promotes adaptive divergence. In this study, we performed comparative transcriptomics on Melastoma candidum , M. sanguineum and their F 1 hybrid to investigate the role of gene expression in plant species diversification and hybridization. Differentially expressed genes were mostly found between the two parental species, and were related to adaptive traits that limit the species to their habitats. In the F 1 hybrid, although the expression levels of most genes were similar to either parent, a small number of genes had expression levels exceeding both parents, possibly explaining its vigour in certain morphological and adaptive traits.