title: Evolution of plant genome architecture.
abstract: We have witnessed an explosion in our understanding of the evolution and structure of plant genomes in recent years. Here, we highlight three important emergent realizations: (1) that the evolutionary history of all plant genomes contains multiple, cyclical episodes of whole-genome doubling that were followed by myriad fractionation processes; (2) that the vast majority of the variation in genome size reflects the dynamics of proliferation and loss of lineage-specific transposable elements; and (3) that various classes of small RNAs help shape genomic architecture and function. We illustrate ways in which understanding these organism-level and molecular genetic processes can be used for crop plant improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA. jfw@iastate.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wendel
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA.|Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 52 Agriculture Laboratory, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Blake C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Arizona Genomics Institute, School of Plant Sciences and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tucson, AZ, 85750, USA.|T.T. Chang Genetic Resource Center, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
authors.forename: Rod A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wing
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D059646:Genome Size; D018745:Genome, Plant; D010802:Phylogeny; D011123:Polyploidy
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements