Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41581085›Full record

ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2026

Two independent origins of XY sex chromosomes in Asparagus.

Philip C Bentz, Sarah B Carey, Francesco Mercati, Haley Hale, Valentina Ricciardi, Francesco Sunseri, Alex Harkess, James H Leebens-Mack

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Philip C BentzDepartment of Plant Biology and The Plant Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2232-7488
Sarah B CareyHudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6431-0660
Francesco MercatiInstitute of Biosciences and BioResources, Division of Palermo, National Research Council, Palermo 90129, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-1356-2881
Haley HaleHudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3318-8383
Valentina RicciardiInstitute of Biosciences and BioResources, Division of Palermo, National Research Council, Palermo 90129, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7081-8906
Francesco SunseriDipartimento Agraria, Università Mediterranea degli Studi di Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria 89124, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-5201-5413
Alex HarkessHudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2035-0871
James H Leebens-MackDepartment of Plant Biology and The Plant Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4811-2231

Funding

Bill Dahl Graduate Student Research AwardBotanical Society of AmericaPlant Center Doctoral Dissertation Improvement GrantR.C. Lewontin Early AwardSociety for the Study of EvolutionUnited States National Science Foundation 2110875United States National Science Foundation Division of Environmental BiologyUniversity of Georgia
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The relatively young and repeated evolutionary origins of dioecy (separate sexes) in flowering plants enables the investigation of molecular dynamics occurring at the earliest stages of sex chromosome evolution. With two independently young origins of dioecy, Asparagus is a model genus for studying the genetics of sex-determination and sex chromosome evolution. Dioecy first evolved in Asparagus ∼3 to 4 million years ago (Ma) in the ancestor of a now widespread Eurasian clade including garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis). A second origin occurred in a smaller, geographically restricted, Mediterranean Basin clade, including Asparagus horridus. New haplotype-resolved reference genomes for garden asparagus and A. horridus, elucidate contrasting first steps in the origin of the sex chromosomes of the Eurasian and Mediterranean Basin clade ancestors. Analysis of the A. horridus genome revealed an XY system derived from a different ancestral pair of autosomes with different sex-determining genes than have been characterized for garden asparagus. We estimate that proto-XY chromosomes evolved 1 to 2 Ma in the Mediterranean Basin clade, following a ∼2.1-megabase inversion that now distinguishes the X and Y chromosomes. Recombination suppression and LTR retrotransposon accumulation drove the expansion of the male-specific region on the Y (MSY) that reaches ∼9.6-megabases in A. horridus. The garden asparagus genome revealed an MSY spanning ∼1.9-megabases. A segmental duplication and neofunctionalization of one duplicated gene (SOFF) drove the origin of dioecy in the Eurasian clade. These findings support previous inference based on phylogeographic analysis revealing two recent origins of dioecy in Asparagus and establish the genus as a model for investigating sex chromosome evolution.

Indexed as

Asparagus PlantChromosomes, PlantSex ChromosomesEvolution, MolecularGenome, PlantHaplotypesPhylogenyasparagus sex chromosomesconvergent evolutiondioecy originsgenome inversionyoung plant sex chromosomes

Identifiers

PMID41581085
PMCPMC12888050

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