Insights Into Chloroplast Genome Evolution Across Opuntioideae (Cactaceae) Reveals Robust Yet Sometimes Conflicting Phylogenetic Topologies

Molecular Evolution of Chloroplast Genomes of Orchid Species: Insights into Phylogenetic Relationship and Adaptive Evolution

Orchidaceae is the 3rd largest family of angiosperms, an evolved young branch of monocotyledons. This family contains a number of economically-important horticulture and flowering plants. However, the limited availability of genomic information largely hindered the study of molecular evolution and phylogeny of Orchidaceae. In this study, we determined the evolutionary characteristics of whole c...

Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation.

Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmenta...

Phylogenetic Support and Chloroplast Genome Evolution in Sileneae (Caryophyllaceae)

Insights from the Complete Chloroplast Genome into the Evolution of Sesamum indicum L

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest oilseed crops. In order to investigate the evolutionary characters according to the Sesame Genome Project, apart from sequencing its nuclear genome, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of S. indicum cv. Yuzhi 11 (white seeded) using Illumina and 454 sequencing. Comparisons of chloroplast genomes between S. indicum and the 18 other higher...

A korarchaeal genome reveals new insights into the evolution of the Archaea

The candidate division Korarchaeota comprises a group of uncultivated microorganisms which, by their small subunit rRNA phylogeny, may have diverged early from the major archaeal phyla Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota. Here we report the initial characterization of a member of the Korarchaeota with the proposed name, “Candidatus Korarchaeum cryptofilum” which exhibits an ultra-thin, filamentous ...