A team from China, Spain, and the US shares a map of genomic variation in peaches, profiling variants and selective sweeps that seem to influence adaptations to a range of locations and climates. Using genome sequencing and re-sequencing data for 263 peach landraces or related wild plants, the researchers looked for signs of natural selection and environmental adaptation in peaches grown in mild or more extreme environments, identifying more than 2,700 environmental variable-related loci and almost 2,100 selective sweeps with apparent ties to local climate, altitude, or other environmental factors. “Collectively, our study provides insights into molecular bases of how environments have shaped peach genomes by natural selection and adds candidate genes for future studies on evolutionary genetics, adaptation to climate changes, and breeding,” they write.
Genomic analyses provide insights into peach local adaptation and responses to climate change (abstract)
https://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2021/02/26/gr.261032.120.abstract
Article, supplemental material, and publication date are at https://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.261032.120.
Freely available online through the Genome Research Open Access option.