Cell type–specific cytonuclear coevolution in three allopolyploid plant species

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310881120
• Publication Date: 2023-09-25T19:10:33Z
• Authors: Keren Zhang; Xueru Zhao; Yue Zhao; Zhibin Zhang; Zhijian Liu; Ziyu Liu; Yanan Yu; Juzuo Li; Yiqiao Ma; Yuefan Dong; Xi Pang; Xin Jin; Ning Li; Bao Liu; Jonathan F. Wendel; Jixian Zhai; Yanping Long; Tianya Wang; Lei Gong
• Keywords: 570; Solitary Nucleus; allopolyploids; cytonuclear coevolution; Cell Differentiation; Plastids; Biological Sciences; DegreeDisciplines::Life Sciences::Plant Sciences::Plant Biology; Problem Solving; single cell; Mitochondria

Cytonuclear disruption may accompany allopolyploid evolution as a consequence of the merger of different nuclear genomes in a cellular environment having only one set of progenitor organellar genomes. One path to reconcile potential cytonuclear mismatch is biased expression for maternal gene duplicates (homoeologs) encoding proteins that target to plastids and/or mitochondria. Assessment of this transcriptional form of cytonuclear coevolution at the level of individual cells or cell types remains unexplored. Using single-cell (sc-) and single-nucleus (sn-) RNAseq data from eight tissues in three allopolyploid species, we characterized cell type–specific variations of cytonuclear coevolutionary homoeologous expression and demonstrated the temporal dynamics of expression patterns across development stages during cotton fiber development. Our results provide unique insights into transcriptional cytonuclear coevolution in plant allopolyploids at the single-cell level.