Advances in Genome Size Evolution of Plants

Dear Colleagues,

Genome size, the amount of DNA in a somatic unreplicated nucleus (2C), is one of the most fundamental biological characteristics of living organisms. It was originally described as C-value, referring to the DNA content of the unreplicated gametic chromosome set of an organism, which was considered characteristic and invariable (the C accounting for ‘constant’) within a species. However, evidence for intraspecific genome size variation has increasingly been reported. Knowledge on genome size is useful in many disciplines such as ecology and phytogeography, systematics and evolution, biotechnology and agronomical sciences, and also in biodiversity screening. Furthermore, in the age of genomics, C-values provide baseline yet critical data for DNA sequencing projects, including emerging full-genome sequencing.

Much effort has been made to investigate the origin, extent, and biological significance of genome size diversity across land plants, and two processes are mainly responsible for such variation: (i) chromosome rearrangements and differential amplification in the amount of repetitive DNA inducing changes on the monoploid genome size (1Cx, DNA content of a monoploid genome with chromosome base number x); (ii) whole genome multiplication or polyploidization frequently involving a duplication of the DNA content.

Plants stand out amongst eukaryotes for presenting a staggering genome size range of ca. 2400-fold, the largest for any comparable group of organisms. However, genome size has been estimated for only 3.1% of the ca. 350,000 species of angiosperms, the largest plant group, with the coverage in plants ranging from 1.7% in mosses (ca. 12,000 species) to 41% in gymnosperms (ca. 1000 species). It is becoming increasingly evident that genome size influences plants in myriad ways at the nuclear, cellular, and whole plant levels, ultimately affecting species evolvability and resilience to environmental change. The growing pool of available genome size data together with recent advances and improvements in methodological and statistical approaches make it possible to gain critical insights into genome size dynamics.

This Special Issue aims at contributing to this topic through a wide range of articles (original research papers, perspectives, hypotheses, reviews, modeling approaches and methods) on genome size diversity and evolution in plants.

Dr. Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev
Dr. Oriane Hidalgo
Prof. Joan Vallès
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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