Charles Plessy, Michael J Mansfield, Aleksandra Bliznina, Aki Masunaga, Charlotte West, Yongkai Tan, Andrew W Liu, Jan Grašič, María Sara Del Río Pisula, Gaspar Sánchez-Serna, Marc Fabrega-Torrus, Alfonso Ferrández-Roldán, Vittoria Roncalli, Pavla Navratilova, Eric M Thompson, Takeshi Onuma, Hiroki Nishida, Cristian Cañestro, Nicholas M Luscombe
Genome structural variations within species are rare. How selective constraints preserve gene order and chromosome structure is a central question in evolutionary biology that remains unsolved. Our sequencing of several genomes of the appendicularian tunicate Oikopleura dioica around the globe reveals extreme genome scrambling caused by thousands of chromosomal rearrangements, although showing no obvious morphological differences between these animals. The breakpoint accumulation rate is an order of magnitude higher than in ascidian tunicates, nematodes, Drosophila, or mammals...
April 15, 2024: Genome Research