The role of gene duplication in the divergence of the sweet cherry

Abstract

Gene duplication is a drive for genetic complexity and diversity, and can occur by several mechanisms. The plant phenotypic evolution is assumed to have been aided by whole-genome duplication. WGD (Whole genome duplication) events are often separated by tens of millions of years, resulting in a lack of a constant supply of variations for adaptation to ever-changing environments. Sweet cherry is a major Rosaceae fruit crop, however, it's uncertain whether distinct forms of gene duplications throughout evolution in sweet cherry where whole genome has been duplicated. In this study, genes were identified that derived from transposed, tandem, whole-genome, dispersed and proximal duplication events and differ in abundance, selection pressures, uninterrupted genes, expression divergence, as well as Go ontology enrichment analysis, and duplicate gene evolution were investigated using integrated large-scale genome and transcriptome datasets. The proximal and tandem mode of duplication expressed extreme conserve expression along with slow divergence, while transposed genes show higher regulatory divergence expression than other modes of duplication. We also examined at the development and expansion of gene families involved in the sugar metabolism pathways and organic acid, which are associated to the flavour and quality of sweet cherry fruit. The current study provides knowledge on the evolutionary fate and consequences of duplicate genes, providing the groundwork for future research into the dynamic evolution of duplicate genes.