Ying Su | Search PubMed

PubMed2026

Spatially resolved single-cell atlas reveals the macroevolutionary trajectory of animal hearts.

Animal hearts display diverse anatomical structures during adaptive evolution. Here, we present a multiomics atlas of adult hearts from 27 species across chordates, arthropods, and mollusks. Joint analysis indicates that Bilateria hearts share a core gene repertoire, taking a stepwise "add-on" approach as a universal evolutionary strategy. The "proto-heart" is populated by key cell types, including cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and neural cells, which maintained core signatures while evolving with shifts in living environments and corresponding adaptations in the cardiovascular system. Additionally, we reveal an evolutionarily conserved cardiomyocyte state dynamic potentially linked to cardiac development and stress responses. Finally, we identify a common molecular program underpinning chamber evolution from a ventricular foundation. This work establishes a resource for understanding the intrinsic mechanisms of heart evolution.

Animals↗

PubMed2024

Phased telomere-to-telomere reference genome and pangenome reveal an expansion of resistance genes during apple domestication.

The cultivated apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) is a cross-pollinated perennial fruit tree of great economic importance. Earlier versions of apple reference genomes were unphased, fragmented, and lacked comprehensive insights into the apple's highly heterozygous genome, which impeded advances in genetic studies and breeding programs. In this study, we assembled a haplotype-resolved telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome for the diploid apple cultivar Golden Delicious. Subsequently, we constructed a pangenome based on 12 assemblies from wild and cultivated species to investigate the dynamic changes of functional genes. Our results revealed the gene gain and loss events during apple domestication. Compared with cultivated species, more gene families in wild species were significantly enriched in oxidative phosphorylation, pentose metabolic process, responses to salt, and abscisic acid biosynthesis process. Our analyses also demonstrated a higher prevalence of different types of resistance gene analogs (RGAs) in cultivars than their wild relatives, partially attributed to segmental and tandem duplication events in certain RGAs classes. Structural variations, mainly deletions and insertions, have affected the presence and absence of TIR-NB-ARC-LRR, NB-ARC-LRR, and CC-NB-ARC-LRR genes. Additionally, hybridization/introgression from wild species has also contributed to the expansion of resistance genes in domesticated apples. Our haplotype-resolved T2T genome and pangenome provide important resources for genetic studies of apples, emphasizing the need to study the evolutionary mechanisms of resistance genes in apple breeding.

Malus↗