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Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Non-radioactive in situ Hybridization Protocol Applicable for Norway Spruce and a Range of Plant Species
Published on: April 17, 2009
Evidence of intense chromosomal shuffling during conifer evolution
Marina de Miguel1, Jérôme Bartholomé1, François Ehrenmann1
1INRA, UMR 1202 BIOGECO, 69 Route d'Arcachon,F-33610 Cestas, France Université de Bordeaux, UMR 1202 BIOGECO, F-33170 Talence, France.
Abstract:
While recent advances have been gained on genome evolution in angiosperm lineages, virtually nothing is known about karyotype evolution in the other group of seed plants, the gymnosperms. Here we used high density gene-based linkage mapping to compare the karyotype structure of two families of conifers (the most abundant group of gymnosperms) separated around 290 million years ago: Pinaceae and Cupressaceae. We propose for the first time a model based on the fusion of 20 ancestral chromosomal blocks that may have shaped the modern karyotpes of Pinaceae (with n=12) and Cupressaceae (with n=11). The considerable difference in modern genome organization between these two lineages contrasts strongly with the remarkable level of synteny already reported within the Pinaceae. It also suggests a convergent evolutionary mechanism of chromosomal block shuffling that has shaped the genomes of the spermatophytes.
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