Compact genomes and complex evolution in the genus Brachypodium
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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Optimization and Comparative Analysis of Plant Organellar DNA Enrichment Methods Suitable for Next-generation Sequencing
Published on: July 28, 2017
Elzbieta Wolny1, Karolina Lesniewska, Robert Hasterok
1Department of Plant Anatomy and Cytology, University of Silesia, Jagiellonska 28, 40-032, Katowice, Poland.
Abstract:
The temperate annual grass Brachypodium distachyon is a diploid species with a chromosome base number of 5. It is strikingly different from other Eurasian species of the genus, which are perennial and often polyploid, with the diploids typically having base numbers of 8 or 9. Previously, phylogenies indicated that B. distachyon split from the other species early in the evolution of the genus, while its genome sequence revealed that extensive synteny on a chromosomal scale had been maintained with rice, a tropical grass with a base number of 12. Here we show evidence that B. distachyon may have a homoploid origin, involving ancestral interspecific hybridisation, although it does not appear to be a component of any of the perennial Eurasian allopolyploids. Using a cytogenetic approach, we show that dysploidy in Brachypodium has not followed a simple progression.
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