Premise of the study The use of genome skimming allows systematists to quickly generate large data sets, particularly of sequences in high abundance (e.g., plastomes); however, researchers may be overlooking data in low abundance that could be used for phylogenetic or evo-devo studies. Here, we present a bioinformatics approach that explores the low-abundance portion of genome-skimming next-gen...

Often during flowering plant evolution, ribosomal protein genes have been lost from the mitochondrion and transferred to the nucleus. Here, we show that substitution by a duplicated, divergent gene originally encoding the chloroplast or cytosolic ribosomal protein counterpart accounts for two missing mitochondrial genes in diverse angiosperms. The rps13 gene is missing from the mitochondrial ge...

Nuclear-encoded genes exist in families of various sizes. To further our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of nuclear gene families we present a characterization of the structure and evolution of the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene family in diploid and tetraploid members of the cotton genus (Gossypium, Malvaceae). A PCR-based approach was employed to isolate and sequence multiple Adh...

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Hyb-Seq, the combination of target enrichment and genome skimming, allows simultaneous data collection for low-copy nuclear genes and high-copy genomic targets for plant systematics and evolution studies. • METHODS AND RESULTS Genome and transcriptome assemblies for milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) were used to design enrichment probes for 3385 exons from 768 ge...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Low-copy nuclear gene primers were developed for phylogenetic studies across the Melastomataceae. METHODS AND RESULTS Total genomic libraries from eight species in the Melastomataceae along with one transcriptome were used for marker identification and primer design. Eight exon-primed intron-crossing markers were amplified with success in taxa of nine tribes in the Melast...

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT or cloning) returns a differentiated cell to a totipotent status; a process termed nuclear reprogramming. Reproductive cloning has potential applications in both agriculture and biomedicine, but is limited by low efficiency. To understand the deficiencies of nuclear reprogramming, our research has focused on both candidate genes and global gene expression pat...

Transgene silencing, which is common in transgenic plants and animals, limits the generation and application of genetically modified organisms, and is associated with the exogenous gene copy number, the methylation status of its promoters, and histone modification abnormalities. Here, we analyzed the expression of the exogenous gene DsRed and the methylation status of its cytomegalovirus (CMV) ...

Premise of the study To investigate a more detailed evolutionary history of Lindera obtusiloba (Lauraceae) and other Lindera species, polymorphic low-copy nuclear primers were developed. Methods and Results Unigenes of the L. obtusiloba transcriptome greater than 800 bp in length were randomly chosen for initial design of 168 primers. Agarose gel electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing were use...

Allopolyploids, formed by hybridization and chromosome doubling, face the immediate challenge of having duplicated nuclear genomes that interact with the haploid and maternally inherited cytoplasmic (plastid and mitochondrial) genomes. Most of our knowledge of the genomic consequences of allopolyploidy has focused on the fate of the duplicated nuclear genes without regard to their potential int...