Plant Chromosomes

Comparative genomics of plant chromosomes.

Comparative genomics, the study of the similarities and differences in structure and function of hereditary information across taxa, uses molecular tools to investigate many notions that long preceded identification of DNA as the hereditary molecule. Vavilov’s (1922) law of homologous series in variation was an early suggestion of the similarities in the genetic blueprints of many (plant) speci...

Plant Evolution: Modern Sex Chromosomes

The first detailed map has been produced of a plant chromosome carrying sex-determining genes. The new data show that, in papaya, these genes lie in a quite extensive non-recombining region. This region is nevertheless a small part of the papaya genome compared with other male-specific genome regions, such as mammalian Y chromosomes.

Patterns of heterochromatin distribution in plant chromosomes

Plant Sex Chromosomes: A Non-Degenerated Y?

Animal Y chromosomes have undergone chromosome-wide degeneration in response to a lack of recombination, and ancient Ys contain few functional genes. Recent research suggests that plant Y chromosomes may evolve differently and retain most of their ancestral genes.

Organisation of the plant genome in chromosomes.

The plant genome is organized into chromosomes that provide the structure for the genetic linkage groups and allow faithful replication, transcription and transmission of the hereditary information. Genome sizes in plants are remarkably diverse, with a 2350-fold range from 63 to 149,000 Mb, divided into n=2 to n= approximately 600 chromosomes. Despite this huge range, structural features of chr...