Experts to examine DNA changes that shaped life on Earth
Scientists are seeking to uncover how a significant, naturally occurring genetic process has shaped the complexity and diversity of many species during evolution.
An international team of researchers will investigate a phenomenon in which a species' entire DNA code is duplicated, becoming four strands instead of the usual two, before reforming over millions of years to become two chains once more.
This doubling of all the genetic material in one event, known as whole genome duplication, enables genes to acquire new functions through time. This can give rise to new traits and is thought to have enabled plants, animals and other types of organisms to become more diverse and potentially more complex.
The team, led by the Roslin Institute and including researchers at the University of Bath, will investigate how evolution unfolds after these events, allowing genes to diverge into duplicates, gaining new functions as they do so.
In a four-year, £5.3m project, the researchers will examine genomes from diverse groups of fish, plants, fungi and single-celled organisms.
Their project will examine how the potential of duplication events is unlocked during evolution, establishing key processes that underpin the origins of adaptation, biological complexity and species diversity.
Project leader Professor Dan Macqueen said, "Whole genome duplications are a major but incompletely understood facet of the evolutionary story of many species—this project aims to uncover important new insights into the mechanisms by which these key events have shaped life on Earth."
The team also involves the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Oxford, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
They will make use of high-quality genomic data and new sequencing technologies to understand the importance of whole genome duplication events across the tree of life.
Dr. James Clark, Prize Fellow at the Milner Center for Evolution in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath, is leading the team at Bath, focusing on genome duplication in plants.
He said, "My part in the project has two aims. The first is to try and identify the patterns and processes of genome evolution after duplication in plants.
"Plant genomes double much more frequently than those of animals, so we expect that the process of 'rediploidization' may have contributed to the evolution of different plant forms (including the flower) and the diversification of some of the most charismatic plant lineages, including the grasses and daisies.
"The second aim is to try and quantify these evolutionary outcomes of whole genome duplication.
"If we can identify instances of genome duplication and the rediploidization process, we then want to try and test whether or not these events have led to greater numbers of species, or the evolution of new forms."
Professor Mark Blaxter at the Wellcome Sanger Institute said, "Analysis of our own human genome reveals that our ancestors underwent not one but two rounds of whole genome duplication. This likely provided the raw materials for innovative evolutionary change, and we now know that this genetic doubling is common across all life.
"This new sLoLa award from BBSRC will use the unrivaled genome sequencing skills of experts at the Wellcome Sanger Institute to provide reference genomes for key species. This will give us the essential foundations we need to understand the pattern and process of genomic doubling. It builds upon our work in the Darwin Tree of Life project, where we are sequencing all the species of Britain and Ireland, and shows the value of the high-quality data we produce."
Provided by University of Bath