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Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Healey, AL; Piatkowski, B; Lovell, JT; Sreedasyam, A; Carey, SB; Mamidi, S; Shu, S; Plott, C; Jenkins, J; Lawrence, T; Aguero, B; Carrell, AA ...
Published in: Nature plants
February 2023

Peatlands are crucial sinks for atmospheric carbon but are critically threatened due to warming climates. Sphagnum (peat moss) species are keystone members of peatland communities where they actively engineer hyperacidic conditions, which improves their competitive advantage and accelerates ecosystem-level carbon sequestration. To dissect the molecular and physiological sources of this unique biology, we generated chromosome-scale genomes of two Sphagnum species: S. divinum and S. angustifolium. Sphagnum genomes show no gene colinearity with any other reference genome to date, demonstrating that Sphagnum represents an unsampled lineage of land plant evolution. The genomes also revealed an average recombination rate an order of magnitude higher than vascular land plants and short putative U/V sex chromosomes. These newly described sex chromosomes interact with autosomal loci that significantly impact growth across diverse pH conditions. This discovery demonstrates that the ability of Sphagnum to sequester carbon in acidic peat bogs is mediated by interactions between sex, autosomes and environment.

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Published In

Nature plants

DOI

EISSN

2055-0278

ISSN

2055-0278

Publication Date

February 2023

Volume

9

Issue

2

Start / End Page

238 / 254

Related Subject Headings

  • Sphagnopsida
  • Sex Chromosomes
  • Ecosystem
  • Climate
  • Carbon Sequestration
  • 0703 Crop and Pasture Production
  • 0607 Plant Biology
 

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Healey, A. L., Piatkowski, B., Lovell, J. T., Sreedasyam, A., Carey, S. B., Mamidi, S., … Shaw, A. J. (2023). Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics. Nature Plants, 9(2), 238–254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01333-5
Healey, Adam L., Bryan Piatkowski, John T. Lovell, Avinash Sreedasyam, Sarah B. Carey, Sujan Mamidi, Shengqiang Shu, et al. “Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics.Nature Plants 9, no. 2 (February 2023): 238–54. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01333-5.
Healey AL, Piatkowski B, Lovell JT, Sreedasyam A, Carey SB, Mamidi S, et al. Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics. Nature plants. 2023 Feb;9(2):238–54.
Healey, Adam L., et al. “Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics.Nature Plants, vol. 9, no. 2, Feb. 2023, pp. 238–54. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41477-022-01333-5.
Healey AL, Piatkowski B, Lovell JT, Sreedasyam A, Carey SB, Mamidi S, Shu S, Plott C, Jenkins J, Lawrence T, Aguero B, Carrell AA, Nieto-Lugilde M, Talag J, Duffy A, Jawdy S, Carter KR, Boston L-B, Jones T, Jaramillo-Chico J, Harkess A, Barry K, Keymanesh K, Bauer D, Grimwood J, Gunter L, Schmutz J, Weston DJ, Shaw AJ. Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics. Nature plants. 2023 Feb;9(2):238–254.

Published In

Nature plants

DOI

EISSN

2055-0278

ISSN

2055-0278

Publication Date

February 2023

Volume

9

Issue

2

Start / End Page

238 / 254

Related Subject Headings

  • Sphagnopsida
  • Sex Chromosomes
  • Ecosystem
  • Climate
  • Carbon Sequestration
  • 0703 Crop and Pasture Production
  • 0607 Plant Biology