BioProject

How allopolyploids are able not only to cope but profit from their condition is a question that remain elusive, but of great importance within the wide context of successful hybrid polyploid evolution. More...

How allopolyploids are able not only to cope but profit from their condition is a question that remain elusive, but of great importance within the wide context of successful hybrid polyploid evolution. One outstanding example of successful allopolyploidy is the endemic Iberian S. alburnoides fish complex. Previously, based on the evaluation of 7 genes, it was reported that the transcription levels between diploid and triploid hybrid S. alburnoides were similar. If this phenomenon would occur on a full genomic scale, a wide functional ‘‘diploidization’’ could be related to the success of polyploids. We generated RNA-seq data from whole juvenile fish and from an adult tissue, to perform the first comparative quantitative transcriptomic analysis between ploidy levels of a vertebrate allopolyploid. We found 64% in juveniles’ full body samples and 44% in liver samples of similar expression between diploid and triploid hybrids, and those genes are mostly involved in processes of basal biological maintenance of the cells. Yet, respectively only 29% and 15% of transcripts presented accurate dosage compensation. Therefore, an exact functional diploidization of the triploid genome does not occur, but globally a significant down regulation of gene expression in triploids was observed. We find that for those genes which show similar expression levels in diploids and triploids, expression in triploids is not globally strictly proportional to gene dosage nor is it set to a perfect diploid level. This quantitative flexibility of expression may be a strong contributor to overcome the “genomic shock”, and be an immediate evolutionary advantage of allopolyploids. Less...