Plant Genome Evolution in the Genus is Driven by Structural Rearrangements That Promote Sequence Divergence

Genomes have a highly organized architecture (nonrandom organization of functional and nonfunctional genetic elements within chromosomes) that is essential for many biological functions, particularly gene expression and reproduction. Despite the need to conserve genome architecture, a high level of structural variation has been observed within species. As species separate and diverge, genome architecture also diverges, becoming increasingly poorly conserved as divergence time increases. However, within plant genomes, the processes of genome architecture divergence are not well described. Here we use long-read sequencing and de novo assembly of 33 phylogenetically diverse, wild and naturally evolving species, covering 1-50 million years of diverging genome evolution to measure genome architectural conservation and describe architectural divergence. The investigation of these genomes revealed that following lineage divergence, genome architecture is highly fragmented by rearrangements. As genomes continue to diverge, the accumulation of mutations and the subsequent divergence beyond recognition of rearrangements become the primary driver of genome divergence. The loss of syntenic regions also contribute to genome divergence but at a slower pace than that of rearrangements. We hypothesize that duplications and translocations are potentially the greatest contributors to genome divergence.