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Heuristic Mining of Hierarchical Genotypes and Accessory Genome Loci in Bacterial Populations

Heuristic Mining of Hierarchical Genotypes and Accessory Genome Loci in Bacterial Populations

Published on: December 7, 2021

Genetic diversity within a tree and alternative indexes for different evolutionary effects.

Yoh Iwasa¹, Sou Tomimoto^1,2, Akiko Satake¹

¹Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.

Quantitative Plant Biology

|January 8, 2025

Summary

Trees accumulate genetic mutations over centuries, leading to divergence within a single organism. These somatic mutations can impact future generations by altering reproductive organs and gametes.

Keywords:

modular organism pairwise phylogenetic distance parent-offspring distance phylogenetic diversity somatic mutations

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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

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Published on: February 3, 2023

Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Plant genetics
Genomics

Background:

Trees accumulate somatic mutations throughout their long lifespans, causing genetic divergence within individual trees.
These mutations arise independently in different stem cell lineages within the shoot apical meristem.
Somatic mutations in plants can affect the genetic makeup of reproductive tissues, influencing offspring genetics.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate genetic variation among a tree's reproductive organs using specific phylogenetic indexes.
To understand the evolutionary implications of somatic mutations in long-lived perennial plants.

Main Methods:

Utilized three indexes to assess genetic variation: mean pairwise phylogenetic distance, phylogenetic diversity, and parent-offspring phylogenetic distance.
Analyzed the accumulation and divergence of somatic mutations in tree tissues.

Main Results:

Tree tissue architecture facilitates somatic mutation accumulation.
Somatic mutations can have diverse evolutionary effects, including increased fitness in competitive environments and efficient removal of deleterious mutations.
Genetic variation within trees can be influenced by somatic mutations, potentially increasing population genetic variance.

Conclusions:

Somatic mutations contribute significantly to genetic diversity within trees.
The choice of index for assessing somatic mutation diversity depends on the specific evolutionary aspect under investigation.
Understanding somatic mutation is crucial for comprehending tree evolution and adaptation.