Abstract
Chromoanagenesis is a genomic catastrophe that results in chromosomal shattering and reassembly. These extreme single chromosome events were first identified in cancer, and have since been observed in other systems, but have so far only been formally documented in plants in the context of haploid induction crosses. The frequency, origins, consequences, and evolutionary impact of such major chromosomal remodeling in other situations remain obscure. Here, we demonstrate the occurrence of chromoanagenesis in poplar (Populus sp.) trees produced from gamma-irradiated pollen. Specifically, in this population of siblings carrying indel mutations, two individuals exhibited highly frequent copy number variation (CNV) clustered on a single chromosome, one of the hallmarks of chromoanagenesis. Using short-read sequencing, we confirmed the presence of clustered segmental rearrangement. Independently, we identified and validated novel DNA junctions and confirmed that they were clustered and corresponded to these rearrangements. Our reconstruction of the novel sequences suggests that the chromosomal segments have reorganized randomly to produce a novel rearranged chromosome but that two different mechanisms might be at play. Our results indicate that gamma irradiation can trigger chromoanagenesis, suggesting that this may also occur when natural or induced mutagens cause DNA breaks. We further demonstrate that such events can be tolerated in poplar, and even replicated clonally, providing an attractive system for more in-depth investigations of their consequences.
Plant breeders often use radiation treatment to produce variation, with the goal of identifying new varieties with superior traits. We studied a population of poplar trees produced by gamma irradiation of pollen, and asked what kind of DNA changes were associated with this variation. We found many changes, most often in the form of added (insertions) or removed (deletions) pieces of DNA. We also found two lines with much more drastic changes. In those lines, we observed massive reorganization. We characterized these two lines in detail and found that catastrophic pulverization and random reassembly only occurred on a single chromosome. Looking closely at how the pieces were put back together suggest that the rearrangements in these two lines may have resulted from two slightly different mechanisms. This type of rearrangement is commonly observed in human cancer cells, but has rarely been observed in plants. We demonstrated here that they can be induced by gamma irradiation, indicating this type of event might be more widespread than we expected. Characterizing such genome restructuring instances helps to understand how genome instability can remodel chromosomes and affect genome function.
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